Monthly Archives: February 2009

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Quote of the Day: “The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.” — Cornelius Tacitus (55-117 A.D.) Source: The Histories

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Subject: Does being a DC Downsizer really matter?

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I hear it all the time: “Sending messages to Congress won’t work.” My first reaction is, “compared to what?”

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In truth, “public pressure” has a fine track record . . . 

Pressure Works! 17+ Examples…
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:::2006
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:::1) We bombarded Congress with over 15,000 messages to defeat provisions in the “Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act.” These provisions would have regulated groups likes DownsizeDC.org. This victory was aided by working with groups as diverse as Focus on the Family and the ACLU. 
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:::2) In September the President signed a law we backed: The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act. This law created a website disclosing all recipients of federal dollars. This new tool promotes transparency with the aim of controlling pork barrel spending.
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:::3) Also in September, it seemed certain that Congress would give the President and several major telecom companies legal cover for previous warrantless spying on American citizens. Intense public pressure from a coalition of more than 20 organizations, of which DownsizeDC.org was a key member, resulted in several setbacks for this legislation.
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:::4) Congress returned to the warrantless spying issue in December. Intense public pressure once again thwarted Congressional action. 
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:::5) As the 109th Congress adjourned at the end of 2006…

Quote of the Day: “Never could an increase of comfort or security be a sufficient good to be bought at the price of liberty.” — Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) French-born British writer

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Subject: Congress signs death warrant for thousands of companies

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An isolated problem with lead contamination in Chinese products has resulted in a severe overreaction by Congress. Our elected representatives rushed to judgement. They passed the “Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act,” without taking the time to . . .

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* Think through the details
:::* Consider all the consequences of their action
:::* Correctly estimate the real danger posed by lead in products

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It’s important to recognize that while lead contamination was once a major concern, especially for children, the situation has improved dramatically . . .

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* Between 1997 and 2006, incidence of elevated blood lead levels in children fell by 84%.

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* According to an anti-pollution website, “Currently (2001), mean blood lead levels are generally well below the level of concern across all age groups.” (emphasis added)

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* According to the Center for Disease Control, the remaining area of concern is lead paint in older homes, and a few other “potential” dangers mainly related to the household environment. Toys and other children’s products are nowhere mentioned.

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Clearly, public exposure to lead is under control and improving, but highly-publicized cases of lead contamination in Chinese products have caused Congress to create vast new regulations that impact not just Chinese products, but our entire economy. Only one House member and three Senators voted against the “Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act” (CPSIA) but those who supported it may soon regret their votes. The CPSIA . . .

Quote of the Day: “CPSIA is now shaping up as a calamity for businesses and an epic failure of regulation, threatening to wipe out tens of thousands of small makers of children’s items from coast to coast, and taking a particular toll on the handcrafted and creative, the small-production-run and sideline at-home business, not to mention struggling retailers. How could this have happened?” – Walter Olson

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Subject: Lead-proof legislation

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Congress passed the Consumer Product safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) last Summer. This bill is so poisonous we’re launching a campaign to repeal it. This toxic law . . .

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• Requires expensive lead testing of ALL children’s products, including those, like books, with no history of lead contamination

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• Would drive many small manufacturers and hand-crafters out of business.

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There are other harmful consequences that we’ll explain when we launch our new campaign tomorrow. Today we explain how such a bad law got passed. Here’s the problem: Congress wants to regulate everything from on high, but they do nothing to regulate their own broken legislative process.

Quote of the Day: “Are we turning Japanese? I really think so.” — The Vapors

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Subject: What we are failing to learn from Japan’s example

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“The Vapors” were a band whose only big hit, “Turning Japanese,” could be the theme song for the so-called stimulus package. Congress too is a one-hit wonder whose one solution to every problem is more government spending.

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But they should pay attention to the example of Japan, and turn back from their desire to “turn us Japanese.”

Quote of the Day: “The natural proclivity of democratic governments is to pursue public policies which concentrate benefits on the well-organized and well-informed, and disperse the costs on the unorganized and ill-informed.” — by Peter Boettke

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Subject: What do you think the politicians think?

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It’s important to keep in mind the world in which the politicians live. Who do they hear, what do they know, and, as a result, how do they think? Politicians talk . . .

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* To each other
:::* To lobbyists
:::* And to “court intellectuals”

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The media is much the same. They talk . . .

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* To each other
:::* To the politicians
:::* And to a standard set of establishment experts.

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This leads them to cover the same stories, at the same time, in the same way, like a herd moving in unison.

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The politicians hear this media chatter too. It’s mostly a constant reinforcement of their beliefs.

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We, in turn, must constantly remind ourselves of these realities, and take them into account. We must recognize our “leaders” live in an Echo Chamber, and devise a way to penetrate that Echo Chamber with new sounds, thoughts, and ideas.

:::How do the politicians hear what we think? And what do they think when they don’t hear from us?
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Media Alert: Jim Babka is scheduled to appear on Straight Talk w/ Jerry Hughes at 3:06 PM Eastern. Details are available at the blog. 

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Quote of the Day: “It is not the fact of liberty but the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives.” — Dorothy Thompson (1894-1961)

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Subject: Here are the questions we want to answer . . .

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* How many Americans would support the “Read the Bills Act” (RTBA) and the “One Subject at a Time Act” (OSTA) if they knew about them?
:::* How many of these people would join Downsize DC, if all they had to do was provide their email address?
:::* How many of these new recruits would contribute sums large or small to expand our recruitment?
:::* How many DC Downsizers would we need in order to saturate a media market with direct mail and advertising promoting RTBA and OSTA?
:::* How long would we have to do this before the Congressional delegation in that market buckled to the pressure and introduced RTBA and OSTA?
:::* How many Downsizers would we need to make our message heard by everyone, everywhere, every day, and begin to win on issue after issue?

:::We’re getting closer to
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Quote of the Day: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” — Thomas Jefferson

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Subject: Hitting Reboot in our Tech Department

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From, Jim Babka, President…

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Dramatic changes have come about at Downsize DC in our technical department. The team we started November with, is now all gone. We’re excited by the opportunity to reboot.

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This means we have a part-time job opening, plus several consultant-style positions available, all related to our web-sites and back-end programming.  

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Let me say up-front that, 

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a) we prefer people who are DC Downsizers for these positions
:::b) no one gets rich working here

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Allow me to introduce our brand new IT Director, Rick Wiggins, to explain who we’re looking for.

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From, Rick Wiggins, IT Director…

Quote of the Day: “Economic growth is the result of creating new wealth, not redistributing existing wealth.” — Jeff Jacoby

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Subject: The strange thing about public opinion

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Polls suggest weak public support for the “stimulus” package. Only a minority favors it, while the majority either opposes it, or is undecided.

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This is amazing given the constant drumbeat for the bill. It raises an important question. Where would we be if the case against the “stimulus” was heard to the same extent as the arguments for it?

Quote of the Day: “White man cuts off end of rug, sews it to other end, thinks rug is longer.”
:::– an old Native American joke about “daylight savings time”

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Subject: Trickle-down hypocrisy

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The Democrats sneer at Republican proposals to cut upper-bracket tax rates. They call it trickle-down economics. But the Democrat’s stimulus plan is trickle-down economics too.

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Much of the spending will go to huge institutions like construction companies and research firms. It will have to trickle-down from there to the rest of us.

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When Democratic politicians talk about the “multiplier effect” of government spending, what they’re really saying is “I believe in trickle-down economics.”

:::The Republicans are just as bad. They may like tax cuts, but they also run huge deficits. The money they borrow
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