Yearly Archives: 2009

Quote of the Day: “The high cost and inequitable character of our medical care system are the direct result of our steady movement toward reliance on third-party payment. A cure requires reversing course, re-privatizing medical care by eliminating most third-party payment, and restoring the role of insurance to providing protection against major medical catastrophes.” — Milton Friedman

:::

Subject: New allies fighting for what you want

:::

We’ve always worked with other groups, forming coalitions to protect your money and your rights. These groups have been as diverse as the ACLU and Focus on the Family. We’ve been able to do this because . . .

:::

:::

Partisan electoral politics divides, while a focus on specific issues unites.

:::

:::

People of many differing partisan and philosophical views can still find many issues on which they agree. When these agreements aim at Downsizing DC we try to make common cause.

:::

A great example is the health care issue, where DownsizeDC.org is joing with other groups to . . .

Quote of the Day: “Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.” — Dwight Eisenhower

:::

Subject: Why the rush?

:::

Congress first heard it from DC Downsizers. Then the media and other groups joined the call. Congress now knows that citizens want them to read their bills.

:::

How has Congress reacted to the growing Read the Bills movement? Consider this . . .

:::

* Three mark-ups of HR 2749, the “Food Safety” bill, were filed the morning of July 29 — the last at 10:50am
:::* Between 10am and 2pm Congress passed 6 bills and one resolution totaling 67 pages
:::* HR 2749 was then brought before Congress at 2pm under a “suspension of the rules,” meaning no amendments, limited debate, and a two-thirds majority to pass. It failed 280-150.
:::* Another version of HR 2749 was then filed the next day.
:::* That day, July 30, Congress passed 3 bills totaling 168 pages, and two resolutions, including H. Res. 691, which dispensed with a reading of HR 2749, limited debate to just one hour, and granted only one opportunity to amend the bill, or send it back to committee.
:::* This time HR 2729 only required a simple majority to pass, which it got, 283 to 142

:::

Republican Rep. Joe Barton, a supporter of the “Food Safety” bill, insists that the late changes were made to address concerns about the impact on small farmers. It’s a credit to the Downsize DC Army, and other opponents of the bill, that it’s less bad than it could have been. But this still raises the question . . .

Quote of the Day: “The purpose of a government investigatory commission is to place blame where it does the least harm politically.” — Paul Craig Roberts

:::

Subject: Five Futures for the Audit the FED bill

:::

Yesterday we learned that we must be brutally realistic about our situation, while remaining confident of ultimate victory, but without setting our hearts on a specific outcome by a specific date. Otherwise, we’ll be vulnerable to depression and defeat.

:::

This is true for our overall effort, and for specific projects too, like Congressman Ron Paul’s Audit the FED bill.

:::

Today, as promised, I want to be realistic about the prospects for the Audit the FED bill, by exploring five possible outcomes . . .

Quote of the Day: “The moment of greatest vulnerability is the instant after victory” – Napoleon Bonaparte (as quoted by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman)

:::

Subject: Passing the Audit the FED bill

:::

We love the fact that Ron Paul’s Audit the FED bill is a lever designed to move the government in a downsizing direction. We love levers. And we’re thrilled that . . .

:::

* The bill now has majority support in the House, with 282 co-sponsors
:::* And growing support in the Senate, with 20 co-sponsors

:::

This has happened because of public pressure, including vast numbers of letters to Congress from DC Downsizers.

:::

We cheer the success, but urge caution.

Quote of the Day: “Free cheese is only found in mousetraps.” — Russian proverb (HT: Professor Mark Perry of the Carpe Diem blog)

:::

Subject: Final numbers for July

:::

As usual on the first work day of a new month, we report our final results from the previous month . . .

:::

* The Downsize DC Army ended July with 27,615 members, an increase of 1,510 net new members/subscribers
:::

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.” —  Peter Boettke

:::

Subject: A report on YOUR progress

:::

We’re making lots of progress. This is YOUR progress, because everything we do depends on you, and on the Downsize DC Army. Thank you for making our growth possible.

:::

With 3 days left in July, here’s where we stand…

Quote of the Day: “You can make a small fortune in farming – provided you start with a large one” – Anonymous

:::

Subject: The bill we warned you about

:::

THIS IS AN URGENT ACTION ITEM… We’ve been told a vote is likely to occur Wednesday.

:::

When we first launched our Freedom to Farm campaign back in April, we mentioned that House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman said “he intends to pass a strong food safety bill soon.”

:::

This bill we warned you about, the 109-page H.R. 2749, is Waxman’s promise. 

:::

The good news is that some of the most egregious trial balloons from earlier bills such as H.R. 875 have gone by the wayside . . .

:::

* There will be no new Food Safety Administration bureaucracy
:::* The bill seems to define “farm” in such a way that backyard gardens won’t be included in the regulations
:::* Direct farm-to-consumer, farm-to-restaurant, and farm-to-grocery store transactions will be exempt
:::* There is no implementation or incorporation of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS)

:::

YOU are to be thanked for this. DC Downsizers were part of a large army of concerned citizens that killed earlier bills.

:::

But the bad news is very bad. This bill . . .

Quote of the Day: “A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.” — Robert Frost(1874-1963) American poet

:::

Subject: A Defeated Bill Proves the Downsize DC Strategic Concept

:::

The Senate defeated a bill that would have made life easier for those Americans licensed to carry a concealed handgun. But in this defeat one can still see the awesome power that comes from building and deploying a massive army of citizens to pressure Congress.

:::

The defeated bill would have created reciprocity between states that allow citizens to carry concealed firearms. In other words . . .

Quote of the Day: “Ironically, as we’re moving toward having our government completely control health care, countries with government-run health care are moving in the opposite direction. Almost every European country has introduced market reforms to reduce health costs and increase the availability and quality of care.” — David Gibberman, writing in “American Thinker” (HT: Professor Mark Perry, Carpe Diem blog)

:::

Subject: Put them on the spot

:::

We like to find levers — proposals that can accomplish a lot with a little. Ideas like our “Read the Bills Act” and our “One Subject at a Time Act” are classic examples. Well, Senator Tom Coburn has found a lever of his own . . .

:::

He proposed an amendment in the Senate Health Committee that would require members of Congress to switch from their current health insurance plans to any government provided insurance scheme that’s created as part of proposed health care legislation.

:::

This really put the members of the Senate Health Committee on the spot. If their plan is really so good, shouldn’t members of Congress be subject to it too? Every Republican but one (Judd Gregg) voted for the amendment, but so did the Chair, Democrat Chris Dodd, as well as Democrats Barbara Mikulski and Ted Kennedy. But . . .

A commenter over at Ed Brayton’s Dispatches from the Culture Wars blog details why he…

:::

…strongly reject(s) the “Read the Bill Act”[link added] for three primary reasons and some minor reasons as well:

:::

Such opposition is so rare that it presents an opportunity. Let’s look at his opposition points…

:::

1) Bills should be fleshed out enough by the lawyers in their capacity as legislative aides in the direct employment of Congressmen in order to execute the principles being legislated. I also do not have a problem if these aides out-source some of the work to lawyers not in the direct employment of the Congressmen when expertise is not available amongst Committee members’ legal staffs. When cases come to trial, judges should have a clarity and comprehensiveness that requires detail. I too reject lobbyists’ drafts being copied and pasted into legislation but do not perceive the relationship between that and mandating Congress read all bills in their entirety.

:::

This objection is flawed in several ways.

:::

First,