Yearly Archives: 2009

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Source: http://www.wordle.net/, presented by DC Downsizer Hal Dunn

Quote of the Day: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” — 10th Amendment, U.S. Constitution

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Subject: Your state belongs to the feds

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For the first time ever federal aid now funds the majority of state government spending.

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It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

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* Government was supposed to be local, close to the people
:::* Federal government was supposed to be small compared to the combined states
:::* The 10th Amendment limits the federal government to 20 functions, leaving all other matters to the states and the people. To see the list of these functions, go to DownsizeDC.org’s Enumerated Powers Act campaign
:::Then, click on the “Talking Points” tab.

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It’s bad enough that Congress has exceeded its constitutional limits. It’s potentially worse that they now fund the majority of state spending too. Funding usually means control, so the consequences are huge . . .

MEDIA NOTICE: Today (Friday), Jim Babka is scheduled to appear on “Straight Talk w/ Jerry Hughes,” starting at 3:05 PM Eastern. Details can be found on the DownsizeDC.org blog.

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Quote of the Day: “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” — Hugh Butler, businessman and friend of Downsize DC

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Subject: Membership spiking upwards!

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You hear about it constantly — some organization explodes overnight through the viral power of the Internet. How come that hasn’t happened to Downsize DC yet?

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Well, we constantly hear about people winning the lottery too, but how many winning tickets have you bought? Fact . . .

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There are millions of websites and mailing lists on the Internet. All of them are trying to hit the viral jackpot. Few ever do. Worse . . .

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Some of the things that go viral are inane, while great ideas languish. At Downsize DC we believe that if something of ours ever goes massively viral, it will probably be the silliest or least important idea we ever offered.

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That’s the way of the world.

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In fact, some of the most popular ideas in the small-government movement truly are poor ideas (some are things we’ve tried ourselves in the past). We name no names; point no fingers. We’re NOT the movement’s quality control department. Nit-picking is too common and produces nothing.

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We also understand that members of underdog movements are naturally drawn to “magic bullets” and “get-powerful-quick” schemes. But we must break the cycle if we want results. 

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If building big political movements was easy, everyone would do it. Like a baseball team, we build incrementally – hitting a series of singles, or piling up walks. That produces lots of runs over time. This is our approach. And it’s working . . .

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Downsize DC membership is spiking upwards. Why?

Quote of the Day: “I’ve come to expect that even nobly conceived laws will be manipulated and distorted for private ends. But once in a while I hear a story that gives me the queasy feeling that I’m nowhere near cynical enough.” — Christopher Hayes, The Nation

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Subject: Congress could mess up a train wreck

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One intent of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was to reduce the use of fossil fuels. But now, because of this law, the paper industry is using more fossil fuels than before.

DownsizeDC.org is pleased to join over sixty other organizations in signing a letter to all members of House of Representatives urging passage of H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. The letter appears as a full-page ad on page A5 of today’s Washington Times. Here is the letter:

Quote of the Day:  “Central banking is almost entirely a phenomenon of the 20th century . . . . created as a means of financing the government. . . . If you say central banking is essential to a free market economy, I have to ask you about Hong Kong, which has no central bank at all . . . Yet it does quite well in terms of economic growth and stability.” — former Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker, speaking in August, 1990, at a symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

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Subject: Federal Reserve Counterfeiting Update

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Most counterfeiters don’t confess their crimes, but the Federal Reserve does. The Fed has just revised its March counterfeiting confession UPWARDS.

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When last we reported the basic money supply as of March stood at 1.644 trillion

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Now, as of an update on May 1st, the Fed has increased this number to 1.647 trillion, an increase of 3 billion additional counterfeit dollars.

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The January and February numbers have also been revised . . . HIGHER!

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Remember what this means — every time the Fed creates new dollars your money becomes less valuable. Also remember that those who get the money first (mainly banks, borrowers, and those with government contracts) profit from this legalized counterfeiting at YOUR EXPENSE.

:::How do you stop this? The easiest plan is to

Quote of the Day: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined.” — James Madison, Federalist No. 45

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Subject: Good news about the “Enumerated Powers Act”

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Representative John Shadegg (R-AZ) has re-introduced The Enumerated Powers Act (EPA). This bill would force Congress to cite the specific constitutional authority for every law they pass. This will be hard, because . . .

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The Constitution only authorizes 20 federal functions. Plus . . .

Subject: You have the power to double the Downsize DC Army

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Have you ever sold Girl Scout cookies, or candy bars for your child’s school, or solicited pledges for a 10K walk to raise money to cure some disease? If so . . .

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You were not only tapping into your friend’s support for your cause, but also their support for you. This personal element can be crucial in overcoming the natural inertia that stops all of us from taking action on behalf of causes we support.

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Personalized invitations to join DownsizeDC.org can make the Downsize DC Army grow faster. Fowarding the Dispatch to friends is great, and it does grow the Army — that action has accounted for most of our growth thus far. But sending personalized invitations to join may be even more effective. It’s also easy . . .

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* Think of someone you know who favors smaller government, and who might like things like the “Read the Bills Act” — it can even be a person to whom you’ve been forwarding Dispatches — your personal invitation may be the only thing needed to get them to FINALLY join, so . . .
:::* Please send them a personalized email asking them to join Downsize DC
:::* We’ve provided sample text below that you can cut-and-paste and/or edit to fit your needs
:::* Try to make it personal. For instance, begin the message Dear Sally or Joe (or whatever the person’s name is)

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Here’s sample text you could use (or edit) . . .

DownsizeDC.org is proud to join 20 other organizations in signing the following letter to Congress urging diplomacy with Iran, not increased sanctions.

MEDIA NOTICE: Today (Friday), Jim Babka is scheduled to appear on “Straight Talk w/ Jerry Hughes,” starting at 3:05 PM Eastern. Details can be found on the DownsizeDC.org blog.

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Quote of the Day: “A socialist is somebody who doesn’t have anything, and is ready to divide it up equally among everybody.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish comic dramatist

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Subject: Progress Report, April 2009

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Our log-in problem is fixed and more improvements are on the way. Meanwhile, despite our recent technical difficulties, the Downsize DC Army has continued to grow. In this message I’ll tell you . . .

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* How much the Army grew in April
:::* How much pressure we put on Congress
:::* How long it took us to grow the Army by an increment of 1,000

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I’ll also share our thoughts about the growth-goals feedback DC Downsizers gave us, and tell you what marks we’d like to hit in May.

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* The Downsize DC Army now stands at 25,004 — that’s a new increment of 1,000
:::* We grew by a net of 302 new members during April
:::* 710 people registered to use the Educate the Powerful System, which beat April of 2008 by 233
:::* We pounded Congress with 31,730 messages, which was down from April of last year by 6,781 messages, probably because of our technical problems

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We’re constantly growing, despite our recent technical difficulties. But is it fast enough? Not yet. The feedback we got about growth goals seems to average out as follows . . .