Author Archives: "Archives"

Can Congress Govern Itself?

Quote of the Day:
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:::”Research and development (R&D) activities undertaken by the business sector seem to have high social returns, while no clear-cut relationship could be established between (government funded) non-business-oriented R&D activities and growth.”
:::– from a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
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:::Subject: Decentralized goodness
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:::At Downsize DC, we do what we do because we want YOU to be rich.
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We believe everyone could be vastly more affluent if the government spent less and did less, leaving increased resources for people like YOU to spend more and do more.
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The U.S. Gross Domestic Product is about $14.5 trillion. Total federal spending is just shy of $3 trillion. The federal government takes a huge bite out of the national wealth.
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:::We believe GDP would be vastly higher if federal spending was vastly lower.
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:::Here at Downsize DC, we try to keep up with all the evidence that justifies this claim. We can’t. There’s simply too much. It’s like trying to drink water from a fire hose. But here’s just one example . . .
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:::Everyone is feeling the pinch of increased gasoline prices. But that’s nothing compared to the rate at which the cost of first class postage has risen. The average price of gasoline has increased 1,400% in the last 89 years, but the price of a first class stamp has risen 2,100%.
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:::There are many reasons for this. Here’s a big one: Government is a monopoly. It has no incentives to economize. Another problem is that spending decisions are made for political reasons, not because the social benefits outweigh the costs. Here’s another example, that relates to the first one  . . .

Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .::::::Subject: One last push on FISA::::::We’re at the deadline. Congress leaves town tomorrow, and as usual they like to pass lots of bill really quickly right before they go. Let’s make sure they don’t rush though a law giving the President warrantless spying powers, and/or immunity for the telecoms that participated in past warrantless spying.::::::Thank you to all the DC Downsizers who sent messages on this issue this week. If you haven’t sent a message yet, please do so now, here.::::::If you’ve already sent a message, please use our “I am not afraid” campaign to send another one. This campaign is our effort to convince Congress to make their response to terrorism proportional to the threat. You can use your personal comments to also tell them that you oppose warrantless spying and immunity for the telecoms. You can send that message here. ::::::Finally, we still need calls to the Blue Dog Democrats telling them to NOT sign the discharge petition that would bring the bad Senate FISA bill to an immediate vote in the House. If your rep is on this list, please call them . . .

Change the political environment. Recruit more DC Downsizers. Share this message with others.
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:::Quote of the Day:
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:::”We’ve witnessed a fire sale of American liberties at bargain basement prices, in return for the false promise of more security… The America being designed right now won’t resemble the America we’ve been defending… The danger isn’t that Big Brother may storm the castle gates. The danger is that Americans don’t realize that he is already inside the castle walls.”
:::– Wayne LaPierre
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:::Subject: Two days left to stop warrantless spying
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:::We’ve campaigned against warrantless spying since Summer, 2006. During that time, with various campaigns, we’ve sent 122,526 messages to Congress on this one issue. It’s had an impact — most notably when the House allowed the so-called “Protect America Act” to sunset out of existence.
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:::We have today and tomorrow to secure what may be a final victory.
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:::DC Downsizers have sent roughly 8,000 more messages to Congress in the last five days. If everyone reading this message would write Congress, 60,400 more messages could be sent. Today would be a good day to do so.
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:::If you oppose warrantless spying and immunity for the telecom companies that engaged in illegal surveillance

Quote of the Day:
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:::”When I was young American politics were fairly straightforward: conservatives let you keep all your money in return for telling you how to live your life, while liberals let you live as you pleased in return for all your money. Now the only difference is whether they want your money or your life first.”
:::– D.A. Ridgely
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:::Subject: Urgent action needed on warrantless spying bills
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:::The deadline is two days from now, Thursday, May 22, 2008. If, by that date, we can prevent Congress from giving the President expanded powers to spy on American citizens, then we’re likely to have won a long lasting victory.
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:::But if we fail, the damage to the Bill of Rights may also be long lasting. And there’s a new danger afoot . . .
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:::In February the Senate passed a bill that . . .
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:::* Gave the President warrantless spying powers
:::* Gave the telecom companies immunity for their past illegal spying
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:::Bad as it is, this Senate bill hasn’t been a real threat before, because our coalition persuaded the House leadership to oppose it. Now, however, the House Republicans are close to having enough sponsors for something called a discharge petition. This would allow the Senate bill to be brought to a vote in the House, no matter what the House leadership wants.
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:::The Republicans currently have 190 sponsors for the discharge petition. They need 218. If they can find 28 more sponsors then they can bring the bill to a vote, and it may pass, unless we stop it.
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:::The Republicans have a potential source of those 28 additional sponsors —

Every time we use the word “democracy” we get complaints about our choice of words . . .

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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:::”The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.”
:::– Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State (Source: New York Times, Oct. 28, 1973)
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:::Subject: Dangerous Democracy
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:::President Bush probably meant to do good by bringing democracy to Iraq, but it’s hard to succeed when you’re aiming at the wrong thing.
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:::The President has always assumed that democracy is what made America good and great. He thinks it could do the same for Iraq, and many others agree. But is it true?
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:::Iraq now has a representative democracy, but strangely, it seems to be a source of violence, not peace. 
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• The Sunni minority fears majority democratic rule by the Shia

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• Iraqi women fear that they’ll be subjected to fundamentalist Islamic law, imposed by democratic means

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• And the Shia are afraid to share power with the Sunni lest it result in the return of full Sunni control

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:::All these fears are justified, because representative democracy can be just as tyrannical as any other form of government. 
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:::What made American democracy different was that our Founders limited the power of government, and of majority rule. These limits, and not representative democracy itself, are what made America good and great.
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:::This point is difficult for politicians like President Bush to understand.

We’ve won eleven legislative victories since 2006. This shows the potential of our simple strategic plan to get what we want by pressuring Congress.

Change the political environment. Recruit more DC Downsizers. Share this message with others.
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:::MEDIA NOTICE: I will be on Gary Nolan’s radio show tonight. Please tune-in. Look below my signature to learn how.
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:::Quote of the Day:
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:::”The war against illegal plunder has been fought since the beginning of the world. But how is… legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime. Then abolish this law without delay … If such a law is not abolished immediately it will spread, multiply and develop into a system.”
:::– Frederic Bastiat
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:::Subject: NEW CAMPAIGN — Control Spending Through Accountability
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:::Big government prospers through failure. Each new failure is used to justify more spending and new powers. Wasteful spending in Iraq is the latest example. One way to change this is to hold government accountable. A new bill in Congress seeks to provide some of the needed accountability. Please support it.
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:::This is Senate Resolution 437, sponsored by Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota.
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:::This resolution would establish a special committee to investigate spending in Iraq. Something similar, the Truman Committee, was able to save an estimated $15 billion (in 1940s dollars!) during World War II. Here are some of the reasons we need the same thing for Iraq . . .

Fighting the Inflation Tax with Gold