Archives
Quote of the Day: “The legal tender quality [of money] is only valuable for the purposes of dishonesty.” — Justice Salmon Chase Chief Justice, formerly Secretary of Treasury in President Lincoln’s administration Source: in dissent of Knox vs. Lee (The Legal Tender Cases, 1871)
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Subject: Can we please make use of the 80-20 rule?
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Yesterday I criticized the misdirected public rage about the AIG bonuses. There is already some buzz on Internet about my “strong words.”
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I simply pointed out that these bonuses were authorized by Congress, signed into law by the President, and paid by a government appointed CEO. I also explained how the “Read the Bills Act” could have prevented this from happening.
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Which is more rage-worthy? The fact that Congress authorized the AIG bonuses, or the fact that many politicians didn’t know they had done this?
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We think the answer is obvious.
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That’s why we think people are focusing on the wrong thing.
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This same lack of focus is happening with the Federal Reserve.
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There’s a big push behind Ron Paul’s “End the Fed” bill. That’s good. But what isn’t good is the relative lack of effort on behalf of his far, far more important “Honest Money” bills.
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The “Honest Money” bills are more important because they would pave the way for passing the “End the Fed” bill. Here’s why . . .
Quote of the Day: “There are a thousand striking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” — Henry David Thoreau
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Subject: Everyone is wrong about the AIG bonuses
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Democratic Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut inserted language into the scam-stimulus bill permitting the AIG bonuses that everyone is now bloviating about. He did so at the request of the Treasury Department. A Congressional majority then voted for the Dodd proposal, and President Obama signed it into law.
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Those upset about the AIG bonuses should focus on the fact that Congress authorized them. All the Congressional grand-standing about how bad the bonuses are is rank hypocrisy. One of two things is true . .
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- Either those who voted for the scam-stimulus bill knew about the bonus provision, in which case they ought to be “falling on their own swords,” instead of castigating the government-appointed CEO of AIG, or . . .
- They didn’t know about the bonus provision, in which case they ought to introduce DownsizeDC.org’s “Read the Bills Act,” so they’ll know what they’re passing before they cast their votes.
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MEDIA NOTICE: Jim Babka will appear on the Jerry Hughes show today. Check our blog for details on how you can listen in.
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Quotes of the Day: “No doubt we all could have been Rhodes scholars if only we hadn’t sucked on our pens, drawn hearts on our hands, and read our pre-1985 books. It is a miracle we survived thus far.” – blogger Deputy Headmistress
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“When kid’s dirtbikes are outlawed because of lead content, only outlaw kids will ride dirtbikes, er something like that.” – Tom Pearson
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Subject: Pointing Fingers
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If your preteen child aspires to be a dirt bike racer, safety concerns may race through your head. That’s understandable.
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But would lead poisoning be one of them?
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Incredibly, youth ATV’s and motorcycles have been banned by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) because of lead content. The Motorcycle Industry Council says this could mean losses of $1 billion in 2009 alone.
Quote of the Day: “Keep up the great work!! You have a wonderful website and I especially like your e-mail alert system… I am signed up on a few others and yours is always FIRST TO ACT!!!” — Ruth Kabitzke, a DC Downsizer from Iowa
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Subject: Our technical difficulties, plus, tomorrow’s message
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We know that not all Downsizers read the Dispatch every day.
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Yesterday’s Dispatch was especially important, so we’re repeating it below in case you didn’t get a chance to read it.
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For those who did read it we want to draw your attention to tomorrow’s message.
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We’ll be sharing a lot of shocking information about Congress’s recent, ill-considered regulation regarding lead content in American products. If you’ve had a recent problem using our Educate the Powerful System, could you please try to send a message on tomorrow’s action item using the work-around we described yesterday — that we repeat below?
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If the work-around is effective for you then you’re all set until we can put a permanent fix in place. If it doesn’t work, could you please let us know so we can try to get to the bottom of the problem? Thank you.
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Meanwhile, here’s the message about out technical problems, and the work-around, that we sent yesterday . . .
Subject: We apologize
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The Coca-Cola Company had New Coke. Microsoft had Vista. We have our new website.
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Many DC Downsizers have had problems with our new site. We sincerely apologize.
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Like New Coke, our redesigned site tested well before launch. Alas, it’s not serving us well.
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But we’re not standing pat.
Quote of the Day: “Ask and you shall receive.” – Jesus of Nazareth
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Subject: Our recruitment letter
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DownsizeDC.org is not yet five years old. On July 14, 2004 we sent our first message to someone else’s 11,800 member email list. Some loved us immediately, but most of them weren’t interested enough to stay with us to the present day.
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Over the years more than 60,000 people have had a subscription to this list at some point, some for only a day or two. Today, we have more than 24,400, and they are active.
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Nearly all of that growth has come from one source — DC Downsizers who have forwarded our Dispatches to other people.
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This is a very low-cost method of growth. It’s also very slow. Few people who receive forwarded Dispathes join (although there’s a huge educational benefit, so keep forwarding those messages). It’s time to start using new methods that could recruit new people 10, 20, or 30 times faster.
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One of those methods is direct mail.
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Direct mail is an old, low-tech tool. It’s also highly effective. It is the most effective form of advertising ever devised.
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We think the key to rapid growth is as simple as asking the most likely prospects to join our email list. Ask and you shall receive. Given sufficient funding we can use direct mail to ask hundreds of thousands, and potentially millions, of likely members to join DownsizeDC.org.
:::Here’s the letter we want to send. Please read it and think about how people who want smaller government are likely to respond.
Quote of the Day: “Procrastinate Apathy”
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Subject: Goals
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Thank you to scores of folks who responded to our requests for feedback on motivational growth goals. Your answers will inform our actions in the weeks and months ahead. In the meantime . . .
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We want to address those who wrote to express despair and apathy.
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We understand how you feel. But we think it’s best to procrastinate apathy. There will be plenty of time to “do nothing” once we’re dead.
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For those who wrote to assert that the only hope lies in replacing all the politicians or enacting some favored reform, we respond, “You and what army?” If you don’t have an army, how will you replace all the politicians or enact your preferred reform?
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Still others wrote to say that sending messages to Congress won’t change anything. Here’s what we’re sure of: NOT telling Congress what you want won’t change anything either. Neither will sending too few messages. Neither will voting to replace one bad politician with another.
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And NO tactic or strategy can work if it is pursued by TOO FEW PEOPLE.
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We want what YOU want. BUT WE NEED AN ARMY TO DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS.
:::One thing your messages to Congress do change is
Quotes of the Day: “Government price-fixing once started, has alike no justice and no end. It is an economic folly from which this country has every right to be spared.” — Calvin Coolidge, 30th US President Source: veto of two bills establishing federal controls over agricultural commodities
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“If we didn’t have $21 milk last year, we wouldn’t have $9 milk this year.” – John Kaneb
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Subject: Milking us dry
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The politicians keep making big claims about how their big plans are going to achieve big results for the economy. Those tempted to believe these claims may first want to consider how well the government does with their smaller schemes. For instance . . .
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Did you know that the government sets minimum prices for milk? They claim that unregulated milk prices would fluctuate wildly, but consider these wild price fluctuations . . .
Quote of the Day: “Everything not specifically prohibited is mandatory.” — the fundamental principle of government
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Subject: Our prediction comes true
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The Congressional war against small business continues. The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (H.R. 875) will create a new food safety bureaucracy, and require a “traceability” program for “food production facilities and food establishments.”
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These new regulations will drive many small farms and restaurants out of business.
Quote of the Day: “One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation” — Thomas Bracket Reed
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Subject: Smelling a rat
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We’ve argued that the stimulus bill was a money-wasting scam. But even the Title 15 provision designed to prevent waste turns out to be . . . another scam. This provision creates two new bureaucracies, the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel (RIAP), and the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which we call the RAT Board.
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RIAP will have five members appointed by the President, the very person the board will oversee, so can it really be “independent?”
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It gets worse. The panel can accept gifts of services and property, and the RIAP’s Executive Director and other staff will be hired outside of normal civil service regulations and salary schedules; all can be paid as much as $143,500.