Yearly Archives: 2008

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::Quote of the Day:
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:::”Why not take advantage of the clever Downsize DC system like I just did? Invest five minutes today to sign up, and then from time to time you, too, can help bombard congress and pressure them into doing the right thing with your money.”
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:::- “creator,” a blogger at Truth Realm
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:::Subject: Big Business Loves Big Government
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:::Politicians tell us that government protects the people from the cut-throat practices of Big Business. But in truth, Big Government is in bed with Big Business. If I were CEO of a major corporation – let’s call it the Big Widget Corporation – I would love Big Government. That’s because I could:
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• lobby Congress to subsidize the widget industry, explaining how vital widgets are to the economy.

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• lobby for tariff protection against imported widgets. This will allow my company to gouge American consumers with higher prices.

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• lobby for regulations that would drive my smaller competitors out of business.

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:::But what is good for the Big Widget Corporation’s shareholders isn’t necessarily good for the American taxpayers, who must pay for this special treatment. That’s why we want the Big Government-Big Business marriage to end in divorce. We can break up the marriage by changing the way Congress does things.

Political Realism: Politicians are always going to be self-interested, rather than true “public servants.”
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:::Some might even call that, “the appearance of corruption.” In response, the Good Government crowd suggests government oversight boards, ever-more complex ethics rules, and taxpayer financing of campaigns.
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:::Others will say we must elect better people. But that won’t ever happen . . .  at least not in significant numbers.
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:::We must deal with this fact. We need a strategy that takes Political Realism into account and takes us to our goal of Downsizing DC.
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:::And on today’s Downsize DC Conference Call, you’ll learn how we can make Political Realism our friend.
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:::My TWO HOUR radio show

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Quote of the Day:::::::“I’m normally not a praying man, but if you’re up there, please save me, Superman.”:::– Homer Simpson::::::Subject: We interrupt this broadcast for our regular scheduled month-end commercial::::::Today’s the last day for us to make budget for April. We made good progress yesterday, but we still need to raise $1,587. We’re asking you, because we have only you to ask. Contributions in the following amounts would do the trick . . .

• 1 of $1,000 and 1 of $500
• 3 of $500
• 6 of $250
• 15 of $100
• 30 of 50
• 60 of $25
• 150 of $10

You can contribute here, and then . . . ::::::We’ll get back to work. Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC army. ::::::Jim Babka:::President:::DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Quote of the Day:::::::“With $10,000 we’d be millionaires! We could buy all kinds of useful things. Like love!”:::– Homer Simpson::::::Subject: What the calendar says::::::The calendar says April has only two days remaining, so here we are with our usual month-end frundraising drive. We need just $2,312 more to make budget for this month. DC Downsizers are our only source of funds, so if we don’t ask you . . . we have nowhere to go.::::::Here are the contributions that would do the job . . .

• 2 of $1,000 and 1 of $300
• 5 of $500
• 10 of $250
• 23 of $100
• 46 of $50
• 92 of $25

::::::If you can help, here’s the place to do it. ::::::Thank you for being a DC Downsizer.::::::Jim Babka:::President:::DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::Last week, the Presidents of Mexico and the U.S. met with the Prime Minister of Canada to work on the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). The SPP is a working relationship between bureaucrats in all three countries to promote greater uniformity in economic and security matters. Here are two of the SPP’s goals, from the SPP’s own website:
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• Safe Food & Products: Strengthen cooperation to better identify, assess and manage unsafe food and products before they enter North America, and collaborate to promote the compatibility of our related regulatory and inspection regimes;

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• Energy and Environment: Develop projects under the newly signed Agreement on Science and Technology; and cooperate on moving new technologies to the marketplace, auto fuel efficiency and energy efficiency standards ;

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:::What’s the goal here? Simply, if something is manufactured in Mexico or Canada, it won’t have to be inspected when entering the United States. In addition, if something is imported into Mexico or Canada, their inspections will be “good enough” and the goods can be trucked into the United States with no further inspections.
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:::What is the driving force behind this integration? Not the people of the three countries. Congress had no say in the formation of the SPP.

I’m traveling this weekend. So Ian and Mark of Free Talk Live agreed to host my Sunday radio show, the Downsize DC Conference Call.
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:::Free Talk Live is a show hosted by long-time DC Downsizers, heard on more than 30 stations around the U.S., Monday thru Saturday. Their format is simple — they want you to call them. You choose the topic. That’s when the fun begins on Free Talk Live.
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:::I have no idea what they have planned today, save for an update from my sponsor, Gun Owners of America.
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:::My guess is

DownsizeDC.org has joined 28 other organizations in sending the House and Senate a message asking them to support S. 2088, the National Security Letters Reform Act. Here is the copy of the letter sent to the Senate:

April 22, 2008::::::Hon. John Conyers, Jr., Chairman:::Hon. Lamar S. Smith, Ranking Minority Member:::House Committee on the Judiciary:::2138 Rayburn House Office Building:::Washington, DC 20515-6216::::::Re: National Security Letters Reform Act, S. 2088::::::Dear Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Specter:::::::The Judiciary Committee will soon consider issues relating to National Security Letters. We write to express our support for the National Security Letters Reform Act (S. 2088). ::::::The PATRIOT Act and Intelligence Authorization Act of FY 2004 drastically expanded the FBI’s authority to obtain the business and personal records of Americans by issuing National Security Letters (NSLs). NSLs, which do not require prior judicial approval, can be used to obtain a wide range of documents based upon vague claims that the information is merely “relevant” to a terrorism investigation. Once the FBI acquires records with an NSL, it can keep them indefinitely, even when it concludes that the subject of those records is innocent of any crime and is not of intelligence interest.

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Quote of the Day:::::::“It is indeed probable that more harm and misery have been caused by men determined to use coercion to stamp out a moral evil than by men intent on doing evil.”:::– Fredrich von Hayek, Nobel Laureate in Economics, from “The Constitution of Liberty”::::::Subject: Progress Report::::::We’ve been busy this month, mostly with behind the scenes stuff that you’ll begin to see in May. Meanwhile, we’ve been clicking right along in April with our integrated campaign of education, recruitment, and pressure on Congress . . .

Is today really Tax Freedom Day?

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::Change the political environment. Recruit more Downsizers. Share this message with others.
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:::Quote of the Day:
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:::”Nothing is as terrible to see as ignorance in action.”
:::– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) Source: engraved on a plaque at the Naval War College
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:::Subject: Bureaucratic bookkeeping vs. targeted surveillance
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:::Which is more likely to protect you from terrorism, a database and a plastic ID card, or targeted surveillance of probable terrorists?
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:::REAL ID is mere bureaucratic bookkeeping. It aims to put EVERY LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN in a database, give us a special ID card, and then constantly ask us the totalitarian’s favorite question, “May I see your papers please?”
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:::But how exactly would a REAL ID card protect you from a suicide bomber? Could you throw it at them, or use it to shield yourself from the blast? Would a suicide bomber even . . .