Author Archives: "Archives"

What if we could cut the pay of Congress when they take us further into debt?
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:::Did you know that the budget rules of Congress, as written, guarantee the growth of Big Government? And continued growth means continued deficits and expanding debt, doesn’t it?
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:::Were you aware that Congress has virtually no incentive to reign in the expense of Big Government?
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:::In fact, much of the problem we have with Big Government today is inherent to the system. This is why DownsizeDC.org has focused it’s Agenda on what we call The Referee Principle.
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:::The Referee Principle is . . .

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security released 162 pages of proposed regulations for the Real ID Act. The bill was (and basically still is) slated to take effect by May, 2008.
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:::There’s going to be a ton of things to say about this topic, as well as more than one kind of action to take on it. Over the next couple of weeks we will break down the complex web of information into simple bite-sized chunks for you.
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:::But the most important thing you’ll need to know today is that there are bills now offered in both the Senate and the House to repeal (not delay) the implementation of the Real ID Act. They are gathering co-sponsors and steam.
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:::But this is going to be a tough battle. We’ll need to do everything we can to fight it effectively. 
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:::* That means, we’re asking you to please use our convenient Congressional Contact System to send a message of support for the bills to repeal (not delay) the implementation of Real ID.
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:::* It also means that we need to continue making progress on monthly pledges to stay in this fight.
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:::The thesis of today’s message is that surveillance is not necessarily security, and that as a technique for crime and terrorism protection, surveillance is nowhere near as important as motivation.
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:::Let’s start with a hypothetical scenario.

Today, we want to share with you a message from Pamela Browne . . .
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:::Tune in this Sunday to a radio tribute to Harry Browne
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:::In June 2005, Downsize DC President Jim Babka (Harry’s 2000 Presidential Campaign Press Secretary) took over guest-hosting Harry’s political radio show and hosted more than 25 episodes. After Harry passed, Jim hosted five hours of tributes (one episode of his own show, “The Downsize DC Conference Call”, and two episodes of Harry’s radio show) signing off the final episode of Harry’s show on March 11, 2006.
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:::During last year’s memorial shows, Harry was memorialized by friends and colleagues. Then in August, friends gathered for a Memorial Service and shared their eulogies and remembrances. But not everyone was ready or able to participate in those events.
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:::So this Sunday, approximately one year from Harry’s passing on March 1st, Jim will be joined on “The Downsize DC Conference Call” by guest co-host David Bergland (former LP Chair, 1984 Presidential nominee, 1996 Campaign Chair for the Harry Browne for President campaign, and the husband of Sharon Ayres who was Harry’s campaign manager that year) for a one-hour memorial show.
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:::Sunday’s program is about

Please share this message with friends . . .
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:::The Associated Press reported that on Tuesday, “A federal appeals court ruled that foreign-born prisoners seized as potential terrorists and held in Guantanamo Bay may not challenge their detention in U.S. courts.”
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:::This is the issue of Habeas Corpus — the natural right of an accused person to have a court available to consider a challenge or appeal to their arrest and detention.
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:::Richard Epstein was right: “Truth must count. Innocence must matter.”
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:::This right is so basic, so fundamental that

Radio, radio, and more radio . . .
:::A message from DownsizeDC.org President Jim Babka
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:::* Today: I’m on the Jerry Hughes Show
:::* On my Sunday show: A memorial to Harry Browne, one year later, with a special guest co-host.
:::* AGGRESSIVE ACTION Update
:::* A message from radio host Ian Bernard
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:::Let’s get started . . .

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::Today begins a new month of creating and building — of AGGRESSIVE ACTION. We’ll start by telling you what we accomplished last month.::::::* We made budget for the 7th month in a row. Thank you!:::* We recruited 416 new DC Downsizers. Thank you!:::* We sent 19,206 messages to Congress. Thank you!::::::These numbers are especially significant because so far, in both January and February, we’ve eclipsed what we did in the same month last year. ::::::We exceeded our results for last February by recruiting 174 more Downsizers, and sending 7,953 more messages to Congress than we did last February. ::::::This is our goal — to do more in every month of 2007 than we did in the corresponding month last year. ::::::So far so good. ::::::But now, the month of March presents a real challenge. Last March we recruited 1,130 new Downsizers, and sent 43,044 messages to Congress. These numbers will be tough to beat, but we’re determined to do it. ::::::The key is the recruitment number. If we can recruit more than 1,130 new Downsizers, then we’re pretty sure that we’ll also beat the “messages to Congress” number. ::::::What if . . .

Sometimes people tell me that when they read the Downsizer-Dispatch they get so angry with what Congress is doing that they just have to take action. This is good, but . . .
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:::Responses from anger are only a small part of what we need to really change things.
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:::It is all too easy for anger to slip into fear, and the emotion of fear is right next door to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.
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:::This can lead to depression, apathy, and inaction. Apathy and inaction make defeat certain. So . . .
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:::We need to do something other than push your anger and fear buttons. We need to push your hope and vision buttons too.
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:::And, in order for our Downsizing cause to be successful, we need to have you respond to that just as well as you would to anger.
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:::It is far more meaningful if we take action out of hope — with a vision of how the future can be better than the past. Doing so avoids

This past weekend, my wife Sue and I were in New Hampshire, where I spoke to the Liberty Forum, an event hosted by the Free State Project. We received a very warm welcome.
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:::More importantly, DownsizeDC.org and our Downsize DC Agenda, starting with the Read the Bills Act, received a very enthusiastic reception from the attendees.
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:::And I want to tell you about the feedback I got and am still getting.
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:::But I would be remiss if I didn’t bring you up to date on our progress statistics here at DownsizeDC.org because these numbers are also reason for hope.
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:::There are so many reasons to be excited. We’ve now exceeded, by a good margin, our February ’06 numbers for newly registered DC Downsizers and messages sent to Congress.
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:::Last February, we registered 242 and generated 11,253 messages to Congress. By comparison, this month, we’ve registered 393 and sent 18,804 messages to Congress (and we still have two days left).
:::This is our second consecutive month where we’re ahead of last year.
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:::But one number still needs attention. And it’s quite close to being good. It’s the most important number:

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::We’ve added three new members to the Coalition for the “Read the Bills Act.” Check out their beautiful RTBA ads . . .::::::Shadowmonkey:::Freedom Democrats:::Joe Cochran – Philosophy and Politics::::::If you have a website and want to join the coalition too, you can do so here.::::::Also, check out James Wilson’s post on our blog about Senator Dianne Feinstein getting caught by surprise. Why was she surprised? She doesn’t read the bills she votes on. Here’s the money quote from the Senator:

Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::Here’s where we stand with our case for leaving Iraq . . .::::::1. The costs we have incurred to date in Iraq may be as high as $2 trillion. We cannot afford more. To Downsize DC we must leave Iraq.:::2. We lack the troops, or the savagery, to force the Iraqi factions to stop fighting. :::3. None of the Iraqi factions are likely to “win” the civil war, so they will have to reach a settlement.:::4. The Iraqi factions do not trust us, and so we cannot serve to broker this settlement.::::::If we cannot broker a settlement between the Iraqi factions, who can?