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Today’s subjects are an ancient myth and a modern beast. The beast appears below in conjunction with details about two media interviews, one of which you can hear on the Internet. But first, the ancient myth . . .
Babka called me yesterday. Said he needed a theme for his radio show. I suggested he call John Williams. Maybe John could compose him something suitably Darth-Vaderish.::::::Babka sighed and said, “Not that kind of theme you dope. I mean theme as in subject. A description of what I’ll discuss.”::::::I said, “Well, what will you discuss?”::::::I heard another Babka sigh followed by, “If I could tell you that I wouldn’t be searching for a theme, you dope. I’m going to talk about lots of things, with no unifying theme.”::::::”Oh,” said I.::::::Silence followed. Crickets chirped. Babka sighed again. “What I really want,” said he, “Is for Downsizers to call and ask me questions. Surely they have some.”::::::”Well there you go,” said I, “the theme of the show is ‘Babka answers your questions.'”::::::And . . .::::::You guessed it. I heard another Babka sigh, followed by a click, and a dial tone. I guess I wasn’t much help. But you can succeed where I failed. Babka needs you. Call him. Ask him questions. Make assertions. Offer opinions. Rant. Rave. Suggest a theme. Read him your grocery list. The possibilities are endless, and the opportunity unprecedented. Use it. Abuse it. Do it today, at the following time and place . . .::::::You can call toll-free at 1-800-259-9231 or email CALL at DOWNSIZEDC dot ORG ::::::This hour-long program starts at 5:06 PM Eastern (4:06 PM Central, 3:06 PM Mountain, 2:06 PM Pacific, 1:06 PM Alaska).::::::To listen on the Net, go to www.GCNLive.com and click on channels one or two for the free feed. You can sample the higher quality, subscription feed on channels three or four for 25 minutes.::::::Thank you for being a DC Downsizer. ::::::Perry Willis:::Communications Director:::DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
Welcome to the Sept 5-9, 2006 edition of Last Week in Congress:::::::Much of Congress’s work last week centered on Defense appropriations for fiscal year 2007. The process is confusing. The House appointed members to the conference committee to work out differences between House and Senate versions of H.R. 5122, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007. As of this writing the bill has a staggering 885 pages. But the Senate then passed H.R. 5631, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2007. The Government Printing Office’s PDF display has this bill at 269 pages, but almost half of it is marked out. I’m as confused as you are. Both bills, however, are in conference. Some way, some how, I suspect Congress will manage to shill out $440 billion or more for Defense by October 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.::::::Through all the roll call votes, including amendments, resolutions, and procedural votes, I found just one other bill passed. This is the 8-page, $5 million H.R. 503, the Horse Protection Act that prohibits the sale and slaughter of horses for human consumption. With all the problems America faces – many of which the federal government itself caused – the House decided to spend time declaring a War on Horse Eaters. In a few years, we’ll probably have minimum ten-year sentences for “street” horsemeat dealers, and the death penalty for “horse kingpins.”::::::Horsemeat may sound repulsive to many Americans, but the decision to avoid horsemeat is a preference, not a moral obligation. Under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress might have the power to regulate the interstate transport of horses, and even that is probably unnecessary. To prohibit the sale and slaughter of horses for human consumption, however, violates our Ninth Amendment right to choose horsemeat if we prefer it. It also violates the Tenth Amendment, which limits Congress’s powers only to those enumerated in the Constitution. Telling us what we can and can’t eat isn’t one of them.
What we’re doing is so much fun because we make progress every day.
Latest conference call…
Today (Sunday) there’s a brand new episode of the Downsize DC Conference Call (a radio show) with host Jim Babka; sponsored by Gun Owners of America, the Marijuana Policy Project, and DownsizeDC.org. ::::::This show will focus on targeted messages one might use to persuasively share the Downsize DC message with gun advocates, anti-war activists, environmentalists, and relatives. Persuasion expert Michael Cloud will join Jim to give his insights. ::::::Another subject will be Islamo-fascism. Does the label fit? Jim will explain what fascism really is, and whether or not it applies to the terrorists. ::::::Plus, we have our first major Downsize DC victory to talk about! . . . and much more. An hour will barely contain it all. It’s action packed and you won’t want to miss it. ::::::Jim calls the show a “conference call” because YOU can participate. You can call toll-free 1-800-259-9231 or email CALL at DOWNSIZEDC dot ORG ::::::This hour-long program starts at 5:06 PM Eastern (4:06 PM Central, 3:06 PM Mountain, 2:06 PM Pacific, 1:06 PM Alaska).::::::To listen on the Net . . . :::
We had to share this news immediately . . .::::::On September 5th we launched a campaign for the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act. This bill requires the government to create a searchable, online database of “who, how much, and why,” for everyone who receives more than $25,000 from the federal government.::::::This bill would make it possible to know, for the first time, who is feeding at the federal trough. Having this database would be a major step forward in exposing government corruption, special favors, corporate welfare, and waste. ::::::It’s exactly the kind of thing people say Congress would never pass, because it threatens Congressional power. We hear it all the time about “Read the Bills,” “Write the Laws,” and our proposed “One Subject at a Time Act.” Nearly everyone likes these proposals, but many are certain they could never pass.::::::The people who say that are just plain wrong, and the fate of the Transparency Act proves it. :::
Specter-Wiretapping Update
It’s a time honored tradition. Summer ends, school begins, and teachers ask students to write an essay about what they did during their Summer vacations. My “summer vacation” essay follows, only we didn’t take a vacation this Summer. Instead, we made progress! Here’s a slightly altered version of something I recently sent to our Board of Directors . . .
DownsizeDC.org is joining with a host of other organizations to bombard the Senate Judiciary Committee with phone calls. Purpose? Stop the Cheney-Specter bill that would gut 4th Amendment protections against Presidential surveillance of your phone calls without a warrant.
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Our day to make phone calls is today!
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You probably already know that the President has an easy, rubber-stamp exception to the 4th Amendment called the FISA Courts. But even this easy approach was considered too difficult by the President.
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Bush and Cheney are advocates of something called the “unitary executive” in a time of war. This doctrine ignores all Constitutional limits and protections in the name of national security. Bush and Cheney have tested how far they can go with this doctrine in a number of ways. Ignoring the FISA courts and doing phone surveillance without a warrant is one of them.
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