Quote of the Day: “When a government controls both the economic power of individuals and the coercive power of the state … this violates a fundamental rule of happy living: Never let the people with all the money and the people with all the guns be the same people.” — P. J. O’Rourke
Subject: When Will Americans Grow Up?
Three of the very most important issues of the moment are…
* The planned re-design of the economy through a “cap and trade” system to limit CO2 emissions
* The planned re-design of our health care system by increasing government involvement at all levels
* The massive expansion of the money supply by the Fed, which threatens hyper-inflation
But will the media and the American people be able to maintain an adult focus on any of these issues, or will they instead spend the next few weeks obsessing about the merits and de-merits of one person — President Obama’s new nominee for the Supreme Court.
Sadly, American adulthood is sometimes more fiction than fact. We predict that the national discussion will now focus on the new Supreme Court nominee and that most of the debate will resemble a high school campaign for class president. It will be driven by adolescent partisan tribal loyalties, and will overlook one overwhelming fact…
Any Supreme Court nomination made by any president from either party is almost certain to be bad. To think otherwise is to ignore history. Remember, for instance, the Kelo decision, in which…
* Supposedly liberal justices endorsed using the coercive power of the state to enrich corporations, yet…
* joining the liberal justices with the deciding vote was the now-retiring Justice Souter, who had been appointed by a supposedly conservative president
Partisan political appointments are no different than partisan political elections. They serve the interest of the political class, NOT your interest. We’re reminded of the spot-on way “The Onion” satirical newspaper summed up a recent election. Their headline read, “Politicians Sweep Midterm Elections.”
Exactly.
No matter whom you elect, the politicians win. No matter whom a president appoints to the Supreme Court, the politicians win. And every time we expend energy debating personalities, labels, or political parties, the politicians win.
Debates about personalities should be left to High School sophomores. Instead, we need an adult focus on the vital issues. We need to show the politicians that we’re focused on WHAT they’re doing, and NOT on WHO is doing it.
We can demonstrate this adult focus by constantly increasing…
* The pressure we place on Congress about essential issues
* The size of the army exerting this pressure
* The financial resources we invest to educate, recruit, and exert pressure
There are now only two business days left in May. Let’s exceed the 31,730 messages we sent Congress last month. We need another 861 messages sent both today and tomorrow. Let’s meet the goal by hitting on all the crucial issues…
Tell your Congressional employees to oppose “cap and trade.”
Use your personal comments to point out that “cap and trade” hasn’t worked in Europe.
Tell your Congressional employees to permit you to buy health insurance in states other than the one in which you live.
Use your personal comments to tell them they should start with simple improvements like this, and not try to re-do the entire health care system at once.
Tell your Congressional employees to make “Honest Money” legal.
You can use your personal comments to point out that the Fed has done still more counterfeiting, raising the money supply from $1.65 trillion in March to $1.75 trillion in April.
You might even want to go one step further and call Ron Paul’s office to ask why they haven’t yet re-introduced the 15-word “Honest Money Act,” the 104-word “Free Competition in Currency Act,” and the 193-word “Tax-Free Gold Act” — preferably, combined into one bill. Here’s the number: (202) 225-2831
It doesn’t matter if you’ve sent messages on these issues recently. Your elected representatives are your employees, and these particular employees need constant reminders. Please put in some extra effort today so we can reach our May goal. Please hit Congress on all three issues.
Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army. To see how much we’re growing please check out the Keeping Score report below my signature.
Jim Babka, President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
Keeping Score
With the holiday weekend now behind us, your Downsize DC Army’s growth momentum has resumed. We grew by 15 net new subscribers yesterday. That brings us to 1,040 net new members for the year, and the Downsize DC Army now stands at 25,389 — nearly 39% of the way to 26,000!
YOU can make the army grow even faster by following our quick and easy instructions for personalized recruiting, available at the DownsizeDC.org blog.
We can also grow faster by doing more outreach to potential DC Downsizers. If you can start a monthly credit card pledge to expand our outreach please tell us on the secure contribution form if it’s okay to publish your name here . . .
NEW MONTHLY PLEDGERS IN MAY: Don Matesz, Silvy Berman, David Jones, Barbara Baxter, Nancy Kovar, Ryan Ackroyd, WM Michael O’Brien, John C Houghton, James Alan Speedie, THREE unlisted
Or, if you’d prefer to make a one-time donation, please let us know if it’s okay to publish your name here . . .
NEW ONE TIME DONORS IN MAY: Arlene Lindstrand, Dee Clary, Joan Garro, Jennifer Tarling, Richard Linchitz, Steven Palmer, Bruce N. Liddel, Ernest P. Eusea, Chris Reulman, David Anthony, Christopher T Wagner, Thomas Sartwelle, Jr, EIGHT unlisted