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Our Downsize DC project is predicated on a strategy. It’s the thing that matters most.
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:::In recent weeks, various suggestions have been made — issues we should be tackling and arguments we should be making. In fact, these statements have come from a variety of directions. It’s been impossible to respond to them all.
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:::There’s one thing that matters — one root strategy that is more important than all others.
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:::Just one. Only one.
Harry Browne tribute. Show description elsewhere on our blog. ::::::mp3, attached at the end of this blog post.
So far, so good
NOTE: I’ll be on the radio today. Details appear below . . .
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:::Today’s topic . . .
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:::THE LATEST OUTRAGE
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:::John Whitehead recently wrote a shocking but very important piece for the Rutherford Institute. I’m going to quote liberally from it.
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:::This stuff is truly horrifying . . .
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::: “Prior to the elections that transformed the makeup of Congress, the Bush Administration pushed for the inclusion of two stealth provisions into a mammoth defense budget bill. The additions made it easier for the government to declare martial law and establish a dictatorship.”
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:::Did you catch that? Key words: election time + mammoth + defense budget bill + stealth provisions. Yes, that’s a formula for something bad to happen. Sure enough, something bad did happen. Whitehead continues . . .
Today’s Downszizer-Dispatch . . .::::::Please bring this item to the attention of concerned friends . . .::::::There is no reason for the federal government to spend more than it takes in, except in the event of a truly national emergency, such as a _declared_ war. But . . .::::::The federal government has routinely spent more than it brings in, year after year, for many decades in a row, even when there was no war. This is irresponsible. ::::::Funding government through borrowing transfers the costs of today’s government to future generations. This is a sin.::::::Congress does this because it wants to be free to hand-out goodies without having to tax you for it.:::This is wrong.::::::And this behavior means that future taxes, that should go for future government expenses, will instead go to pay the ever-growing interest on the ever-growing national debt. This is bad. ::::::We must change the incentives. We must make Congress pay a personal cost today for doing the bad things they’re doing right now. We have an opportunity to do that, starting right now, and right here.
Right before Christmas, I did a show with Jerry Hughes, host of Straight Talk, on the Accent Radio Network. I’ve been meaning to post it for awhile. ::::::The topic? The War in Iraq. Here’s what I enjoyed about this show: Jerry challenged me every step of the way. It was a frank yet polite exchange. Jerry is a gentlemen. But he didn’t pull punches intellectually. ::::::I wish lots of people could hear this show because many of their concerns were voiced, and, I believe, answered. I wish every bit of the national debate was so focused, so issue-oriented, rather than the partisan grandstanding shoutfests we’re treated to on the talking head’s shows and talk radio programs. ::::::The file is attached in mp3 format to this blog post and has been edited for your listening convenience. My thanks to the Accent Radio Network for providing this clip. ::::::I’m on Jerry Hughes’ show most Fridays at 3 PM Eastern. I encourage you to listen.
No War With Iran Coalition
Today’s Downsizer-Dispatch . . .::::::DownsizeDC.org began life as RealCampaignReform.org (RCR). RCR opposed incumbent protection laws, disguised as do-gooder campaign finance laws. ::::::Our crowning achievement was assembling a group of plaintiffs (led by Congressman Ron Paul) to challenge the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA, a.k.a. McCain-Feingold). ::::::We took our unique, Constitutionally-grounded case, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. We lost, but four of the Justices seemed to resonate with our particular arguments. ::::::Now, we have an opportunity to regain some of the ground we lost to BCRA.
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.