The campaign that we would’ve run against the Debate Commission Retweet
I’ve been telling you, all month, about the benefits of the new Engage system, which we are currently working to install. Our present Educate the Powerful system isn’t nimble enough to pressure targets other than Congress. But Engage can do that.
If that power had been in place for us a month ago, we would’ve said something like the following…
The Commission on Presidential Debates is an establishment owned, power-sharing cartel. It is specifically designed to give the two major party campaigns control over the national televised debates.
We can back up every jot and tittle of those two sentences. But are the American people aware of how they’re being manipulated, even hypnotized, into believing they only have the two choices chosen for them by the bipartisan Debates Commission cartel?
We value markets. That means, we value things like choice, crowd-sourcing, and consumer power. A natural market would never deliver a result where two candidates with the highest negatives ever are the ONLY ones allowed to debate.
The two party system is unnatural. It requires crutches like the Debate Commission, to keep the rigging in place.
But, since we’re no think-tank, but rather a “do-tank,” we would’ve acted beyond making the above statement. With the Engage software installed we could have…
- Made specific critiques and reform proposals.
- Directed those arguments at specific enabling bureaucracies.
- Pressured the Debate Commission directly.
But our new, nimble Engage is NOT in place. We’re here now, getting ready for a bright future with lots of new tools to empower you. But…
I don’t want to let another opportunity for better targeted action to pass us by.
Do you?
We told you this transition was going to cost $38,000.
- $12,000 for the software and service contract. We actually purchased that with the help of two donors, earlier this year.
- Programming and design is estimated to cost another $26,000. This is a one-time investment.
And the work has already begun. We’ve already seen the first pictures of our new website. We’re refining them now, and we will show our Refounders-2016 committee — now 300 one-time donors and monthly pledgers — those pictures FIRST. We expect to do that in the next two weeks!
Refounders will ALSO get to “beta test” the new site — that is, take it on its first trial run!
That’s on top of being listed, right next to the original Founders, on our About Us page for probably decade or more to come.
As you look at the Refounders list (located in the P.S. of this message), please note that the larger your contribution, the higher your rank. Monthly, credit card pledges get “annualized” for ranking purposes. That means we multiply them by 12.
And your last chance to join this historic list is Friday, September 30. The online deadline is 11:59 PM Central time. Mailed checks, postmarked by September 30, will also be counted. When October 1 arrives, the committee closes.
At this point, we still require $4,760. Frankly, that’s still a reach for us. Will we cover our costs? Well, we know that there is someone reading this, right now, who could cover half or even all of that balance. If you’re that person, please contribute now.
Please, no matter who you are, don’t let this chance to be a part of history pass you by.
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
P.S. We will report the complete Re-founders list next week. But here is the list, as of yesterday (9/28): Brian Thomson, Larry Ryan, Jann Werner, Ken Whedbee, Bill Staton, Bruce Sawicki, Virginia Schilling, Ferdinand Reinke, David Mason, Robert Stern, Jean McCrady, Bruce Morton, Peter Cappello, Leo Hamel, Robert Lehman, Dwight Baker, William Hees, Allan Higgins, Bruce Liddel, Nicholas Hasulak, Robert Hart Jr, Albert Pigeon, William Buzzell, Martin Anding, David Rempel, Carl Case, Wilma Sinclair, Scott Mosher, David Kaup, Rob Miller, John Fehsenfeld, Daniel Laux, Stephanie Adams, Andy Williams, Jonathan Sauer, David King, Eric Olivas, Mary Swim, Joe Cobb, Elijah Henry, Travis Walston, Steven Castrechino, James E Mayer, John Sparduto, Michael Burks, Richard Loomis, Andrew Borom, R Hilliard, James Smith, Benjamin Moyes, John Bitner, Alan Eames, David Rowntree, Joshua Horstman, Erik Lindborg, Marc Bessent, Victoria Kelley, Richard Browning, Edward Wright, Jon Foster, Deborah Bishop, Michael Gibbs, Tim Kaelin, Christopher Norbury, Mel Pinney, John Hathaway, Marjorie Peters, Jaret Osborne, Charles Lankford, Kendra Robb, Jim Compton, Michael Stoll, Kay Samalin, Howard Beatty, Michel Kaiser, Curry Taylor, Jack Madren Jr, Craig Finch, Dave Larson, Ralph Horton, Mark LeBar, Dan’l Leviton, Mark Crowley, Robert Lidral, Randolph Szabla, Jim Ferris, Mark Gogan, Dennis Poole, Chuck Patel, Michael Phillips, Doug Szarkowski, Peter Skaates, Steven Schram, Barbara Haskins, John DiLiberto, Franklin Davis, Tom Demers, Shawn M. Murray, J.D., Christopher Gough, Ross Primrose, Jerry Titus, Joseph Plummer, Diane McFarland, Franklin Davis, David Kornbluh, Ronald Cadby, Kerry Daniel, Michael Kraus, Judith Ann Shellabarger, Mark Wilczekm, Randy Young, William Cross, Susan Tindall, Norman Coppola, Kurt Schurenberg, Steven Busby, Pamela Krauskopf, Jerry Mabry, Ralph Hollister, Frank Pater, Michael Maskalans, Roger Garcia, David Brown, Terri Dewell, Anne Marshall, Thomas Kurzej, Travis Williams, Pranav Badhwar, David Jeffries, Kathleen Arnheim, Len Hofferber, Andrew Jason, William Stoner, Terry Robinson, William White, Timothy Doubledee, Dan Kelly, Michael Hughes, Dana Gudenau, Roger Leahy, Jim Wilson, James Troy, Anneliese Gimpel, Shohn Trojacek, Joel Norgaard, Pamela Browne, Robert Schlotman, James LaCombe, Dana Davis, Craig Thompson, Marta Howard, Sandra Pierre, Eric Parks, Peggy Christensen, Virgil Ragsdale, Jim Delton, Jack Bruns, Dale & Leslie Bates, Mike Spalding, Adam Rezner, Andrew Walling, Derek Moyes, George Hanson, Ronald Pond, Jacquelyn St Aubyn, Dwight Bakker, Randy Etter, Patricia Wedel, Steve Stewart, Michael O’Brien, David Gorrell, James Balson, Justin Gillen, Jackson Harvey, David Weakland, Thibeaux Lincecum, Sonja Smith, Eric Geislinger, Jeff Stewart, Pattie Bagwell, Odetta Pierce, Chuck Metalitz, James Wahler, Todd Clark, David Herzfeld, Matthew Pfluger, Carl Swinney, Phil Hoff, Richard Fall, Roy Fuller, Gregory Williamson, Richard Hale, Kristi Granger, Charles Brady, Teryn Driver, Keith Brilhart, Brice Dobry, Marcelyn Floyd, Landon Cahow, Annalee Scharbor, Bob Ford, Martin Johnson, Tom Morris, Valerie Nixon, Dan Goebel, Paul Rogers, Larry Upshaw, Timothy Streit. Wendell Drye. Luke Elms, Steven Hahn, Loretta Hurite. Paul Smith, Thomas Thacker, Jeffrey Hatwig, Joyce Manett, R.S. Elam, Kirk Beck, Tracy Almeida, Mary Kennedy, Jerry Hickman, Jeff Held, Wes Johnson, Robert Bussey, Tim Haffner, Raylene Short, Gregg Young, Gary Wood, Derrick Nybakken, Robert Taylor, Bobby Chapuis, Bruce Boyd, Sue Lewis, Hana Bernard, Terry Hulsey, Kathleen Chippi, Richard Siebold, Jo Vaccarino, Edward Krieger, Scott Lieberman, John Davis, Linda Rowberg, James Howe, Nicholas McNamara, Paul Meyer, David Bradshaw, James C. Stevens, Steven Bachman, Charlotte Juett, David Yett, Carrie Eiler, Mike Clancy, Jon Foster, Mike Rosing, James Sewell, Joe Shearey, Robert Havay, Jim Babka, Tom Mulcahy, Rachel Weber, Dan Moyes, Brittany Wolf, Frances Gettys, Bernard Zamostny, Adora Jones, Thomas Solt, STATEOFTHEHEART LLC, Brad Morefield, John Walker, Evan Nagel, Liz Winterhawk, Martha Montelongo, Anna Janek, William IV, Darryl W. Perry, Nick Morana, Joseph Keeney, Joseph Theriault, Kit Arbuckle, Paul Price, David Gaj, Greg Moser, Scott Grunsted, Thomas Mayhew, Brian Happaney, Drew Campbell, Larry Calvert, Roy Hannah, Michael Kitchen, Thomas Knapp, Billy Burger, Paul Spray