Do they want to put Downsize DC out of business?
NOTE: Safari users, there's good news for you in today's message.
Dear DC Downsizer,
The Educate the Powerful System, the Downsize DC tool you use to send LETTERS to Congress, is FREE.
It's free in the sense that lunch is free. You can eat, even if you didn't pay. But someone still picked up the tab.
If you’re not participating as a donor, you can do so using our secure web form.
Our donors make it possible to solve problems like these…
- Safari browser users were having difficulty accessing and using our site
- Congress is erecting new barriers to block our system
GOOD NEWS! We believe we have now solved the Safari problem by installing new servers (that our donors paid for).
BAD NEWS! Congress is using new technology that may block you from communicating with them.
To understand this new problem you need to be clear about what our system does. We do NOT forward emails to Congress! We…
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Use your contact information to fill out web forms located at your elected reps' websites,
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Do this in such a way that your reps know you are one of their constituents, and
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Deliver your letter to both your Representative and your two Senators simultaneously.
But if you have an easy-to-remember password, or you stay logged-in, sending your letters is as easy as sending one email. So we can see why people think that's what we do!
Now…
The politicians don’t like this. We make it too easy for you to nag them. They want to force you to visit three different websites to send just one message to your rep and your two Senators.
They probably would prefer we did NOT tell you what they were up to, either — nor that we make it easier for you to communicate with our sample letters.
One method they use is called a CAPTCHA — letters and numbers you must type to prove that you’re a real person. Our programmer, Chris Wagner, found a way to deliver the CAPTCHA to you so you can fill it in without having to leave the Downsize DC site.
This would be the moment we queue the ominous music in a minor key, because now…
Some members of Congress are starting to use a tool called re-CAPTCHA (a new, “improved” super-version). And they've changed the way we connect with their page using JavaScript. We’re pretty confident we can address the JavaScript aspect, but…
This more powerful re-CAPTCHA may be a threat to our entire action model.
You might lose the Educate the Powerful System.
As far as we can tell, right now, there may be just two Congressional offices using this new re-CAPTCHA method. But…
We want everyone to be able to deliver messages to all 535 offices. Plus, we want to solve this problem now, before it spreads to other offices.
The method used by one these offices is a perfect test-case.
We want to build a one-off prototype to solve this problem with this one office. This is the most cost-effective approach.
If that works, we’ll be prepared if other offices follow suit.
But doing this will cost money we don’t have.
Listen, we solve problems, so this neither surprises nor discourages me. But let me tell you what does bother me…
We’re not sure what it will take to leap this barrier. Chris Wagner can only make an educated guess.
As a manager who tries to stretch every dollar, such uncertainty is stressful to me.
That's why I'm appealing to you, right now. To whom else can we turn? Will you help us solve this problem?
Frankly, I don't believe we're going to raise enough to address this re-CAPTCHA barrier, plus cover the ongoing expenses of providing Downsize DC services, without some patrons making donations of $2,000, $1,000, and $500.
I know we may not get many or any contributions of that size. Fighting Congress will require as much assistance as possible. So a lot of smaller donations are necessary too.
Finally, we're able to do most of what we do because of monthly pledges. The average new pledge in June was $18. We have scores of people pledging $5 or less per month. Please consider making a monthly credit card pledge.
This was never easy. Like an old friend used to say, “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” We overcome challenges. I'm confident we can do it again, with your support.
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.