Monthly Archives: July 2008

Environmental groups and businesses are joining together to do what Congress can’t . . .::::::

Quote of the Day:
:::From the Washington Post’s annual Mensa Invitational, in which readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here’s one of the winners:
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:::”Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.”
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:::Subject: July results
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:::As you can see on the home page of DownsizeDC.org, we crossed 50,000 messages to Congress this month — and for only the third time in our history. Better yet, we did it for the second month in a row! We also recruited 571 new DC Downsizers this month, an increase of 67 over what we did in July of last year.
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:::Biggest News:::::::

Quote of the Day:
:::”Be thankful we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for.”
:::– Will Rogers
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:::Subject: Can we control the runaway federal deficit?
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:::When you earn less, you must spend less. But when the government earns less, it spends more, usually by borrowing. It’s happening right now.
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:::The U.S. economy has slowed. Tax revenues are dropping, but government spending is soaring. The federal deficit is projected to reach a record level next year — $490 billion. That’s nearly half a trillion dollars added to the national debt in just one year.
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:::This is bad for the economy. Money that’s borrowed by the government can’t be borrowed by businesses. Businesses create jobs. Businesses are competing with the government for capital. It’s a competition businesses can’t win. But it gets worse . . .
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Quote of the Day:
:::”We can have justice whenever those who have not been injured by injustice are as outraged by it as those who have been.”
:::– Solon (594 B.C.)
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:::Subject: Another Victory!
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:::We just won another victory (our 13th victory since 2006). The Senate killed S. 3297 yesterday. This massive bill, called the “Advancing America’s Priorities Act,” contained 36 completely unrelated measures. Sixty votes were needed to close debate and bring the bill to a final vote. It received only 52 votes — there were 40 votes against.
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:::This shows us something:::::::

I watched a good chunk of last Friday’s, Dennis Kucinich-inspired, “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Impeachment, Non-impeachment Hearings” on C-SPAN. Both many Democrats and nearly all Republicans seem to hold an erroneous view about impeachment, and it goes like this:

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“We can’t start impeachment now, because this President’s term of office will be done in six months.”

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It appears that this statement is based on the erroneous notion that impeachment is ONLY about removal from office. But we have recent history to tell us that removal from office is a TWO-step process. Bill Clinton was impeached by the House — which is akin to an indictment. However, he was not convicted after his trial by the Senate, and therefore was NOT removed from office.

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Frankly, it really doesn’t matter whether or not there are just six weeks left in the term. Beyond removal from office, impeachment should be pursued for the following three reasons . . .

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1) Iran. This Administration has consistently threatened to bomb Iran, despite the National Intelligence Estimate of late last year that indicated Iran is NOT a nuclear weapons threat. Many commentators believe that, right now, it is only the threat of $2-300 per barrel oil that prevent the President’s war plans from commencement. Will the President attack as a lame duck? Will the fact that he only has limited time in office prevent him from doing what he (wrongly) believes is his job?

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2) Justice. This President has already talked about his legacy. He wants to be Harry Truman II. He stood the heat and saved the world through decisive action. He’s already raising vast sums for the largest-ever Presidential Library (a former President “edifice complex”) that will hold papers even we the people are not able to see. But Bill Clinton has a blotch on his record because of his impeachment. The impeachment hearings on Dick Nixon (which most everyone believes were going to result in his impeachment) darkened his record. No President wants to get hit in the legacy.

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3) Signal. Impeachment would send a signal to future occupants of the Oval Office — a warning sign to tread carefully and obey the law. And if that was the only reason to proceed with impeachment, then it’s time for Congress to get started.

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Originally posted at PositiveLiberty.com

Next year’s budget deficit is projected to reach $490 billion. That’s nearly half a trillion dollars added to the national debt in just one year. It’s also a new record, eclipsing the previous one-year record of $413 billion set in 2004. Meanwhile . . .

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Which solves more problems, coercive government, or the voluntary market? While Congress is debating windfall profit taxes on oil companies, and vast new cap-and-trade schemes for carbon emissions, small groups of innovators are responding to environmental problems and energy prices by providing real solutions.

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Quote of the Day:
:::”We were not made to serve the state, but the state was made to serve us.”
:::– Jason Kuznicki
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:::Subject: Vote on omnibus bill still pending
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:::A vote is still pending on S. 3297, the “Advancing America’s Priorities Act” (America’s priorities? Where do they get these bill names?). This means we still have time to oppose it.
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:::This bill groups together 36 completely different legislative proposals. What if your Senator strongly opposes most of these proposals, but votes for the whole package because he feels one specific proposal simply must be passed? If many Senators feel this way then than we end up with a lot of laws and programs that could not have passed on their own merits.
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:::Please send Congress a message asking them to pass DownsizeDC.org’s “One Subject at a Time Act.” Use your personal comments to also ask your Senators to vote against S. 3297 because::::::

TRIVIA QUESTION:
:::On October 7, 2001, the United States government commenced bombing attacks against the Taliban forces in Afghanistan. By December 7, 2001, the Taliban had been driven out and defeated. On what date was the first battle casualty of an American soldier?
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:::The first CALLER to my show today who can tell me the correct date will win a special prize (probably a book), courtesy of the William J. Olson, PC law firm of McLean, Virginia.
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:::And what else will I be talking about?
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:::On Friday, the House Judiciary Committee held the Dennis Kucinich-inspired “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Impeachment, Non-impeachment Hearing.” The Republicans on the Committee counted and reported the number of times the word impeachment was used by those who testified, and decried the fact because this was NOT, after all, an impeachment hearing.
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:::It was both tragedy and comedy.
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:::On today’s (Sunday) Downsize DC Conference call, my TWO-HOUR radio show that starts at 3:06 PM Eastern (2:06 PM Central, 1:06 PM Mountain, and 12:06 PM Pacific), I’ll talk about the hearing, because I think it was a flop. 
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:::Can my audience and I do a better job than Congress of covering this case? I believe you can, so invite you to phone or email me.
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Quote of the Day:
:::”We won’t let the Venezuelas or the Nigerias or the Saudi Arabias or the Irans jerk us around by the gas nozzle.”
:::– Senator Larry Craig of airport bathroom stall fame, Source: Newsweek, July 28, 2008
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:::Subject: Important Developments
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:::There have been a number of important developments on a couple of issues, but first . . .
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:::We’re having technical difficulties with our new website. Many people get white screens (sometimes an Error in Internet Explorer) when they click on a link on the site. This stops them from taking action. We’re working on the problem, but here’s a short term fix you can use to get where you’re going. Just hit the refresh button one or more times. The page you need should then appear.
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:::Now, with that annoyance out of the way, here’s some good news. We’re making progress against House Concurrent Resolution 362 and Senate Resolution 580, both of which urge President Bush to blockade Iran. Such a blockade would remove Iran’s oil from the world market, send gasoline prices soaring, and potentially plunge the world into a deep recession. Thanks to your work, and pressure from other groups, some in Congress are beginning to see the light.
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:::It began when one of the key sponsors, Representative Robert Wexler, came out against his own resolution (although he hasn’t yet removed his name from it). Now, three other Representative’s have removed their names:::::::