Quote of the Day: “Politicians are merely Opportunists, looking for a big parade that’s marching somewhere. As Opportunists, they can’t pass up the chance to jump in front of a parade and declare themselves to be the leader. We need to build a parade so large that Political Opportunists ‘lead us’ to smaller government.” – Jim Babka
Republican Scott Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts special election. As a result, the cancerous healthcare bill is probably dead. Does this mean that elections work to cause change?
The answer depends on a deeper question — was the election result a cause, or an effect? Consider . . .
Last Spring the healthcare bill was riding high. The proverbial handwriting was on the wall. Many Republicans were ready to bow to what seemed inevitable. There were around 20 of them who were lining up to see what kind of tax funded bribes they could win in return for their vote. But then, something happened . . .
First there were Tea Parties. They were considered a passing fancy. Then, at Town Hall meetings Members of Congress returned to their districts during recess and got socked in the face. Constituents were angry. They hated the healthcare bill, and all the spending and borrowing. The politicians felt the PRESSURE, and the potential Republican defectors flip-flopped, renewing their opposition to the healthcare bill. But that wasn’t the end of it . . .
* The pressure just got worse and worse. Letters and calls flooded Washington, including nearly 118,000 letters from DC Downsizers.
* Tea Party protests continued to blossom across the country.
* Opinion polls showed consistent and increasingly intense opposition, not only to the healthcare bill, but also to Congresses’ obsession with taxing, borrowing, spending, and regulating everything in sight.
Then . . .
Along came Scott Brown, a Big Government Statist Republican.Michael Cloud and Carla Howell have done a good job of exposing Mr. Brown’s record, showing that he loves all the taxing, borrowing, spending, and regulating that the American people hate.
But Mr. Brown didn’t present himself to the voters as a Big Government Statist Republican. Instead, he presented himself as an opponent of the Congressional healthcare bill that was a clone of the Republican Romney-Care scheme he had earlier helped to inflict on the people of Massachusetts.
Why did this leopard change his spots?
He changed because he saw which way the parade was marching.
He knew that he had to march in front of that parade if he wanted to win.
Brown’s victory isn’t a cause, it’s an effect. It’s the outcome of intense public pressure. Here’s another example . . .
Senator Nelson sold his vote on the healthcare bill in return for tax funded bribes — special favors for special interests in his state, Nebraska. He thought he was bringing home the bacon, and that his constituents would praise him for it. He was wrong. Instead, he got socked in the face.
No election caused this. Public pressure caused it. We’ve said it before; we’ll say it again . . .
Elections are a sideshow, and their results are an after-effect. By themselves they change nothing. They merely replace one politician with another (News Flash: Politicians win 100% of all elections). What really matters is what the people want, and the intensity with which they express their desires.
If we apply enough pressure, consistently enough, elections will take care of themselves . . .
* Candidates will change their positions in order to march in front of our parade
* And they will do this regardless of their partisan labels, or their past positions
But to achieve the full benefit of this, we must make it EASIER for you and other taxpayers to apply pressure and express your desires. We’ve made sending letters to Congress as easy as a few mouse clicks and keyboard strokes. But there are many other leverage points where we can and must do the same thing.
We are working to create these new levers that YOU can apply new leverage points. These new tools of influence will empower YOU, making you better able to educate the powerful, while persuading your neighbors to join you. We want to pressure or sway . . .
* The media, both nationally, and in your own community
* The candidates who are challenging the incumbents who currently represent you
* Your local congressional offices (not just their far-off Washington, DC offices)
* Your state legislatures, in a way that will cause them to also exert pressure on Congress
* Other taxpayers, in a way that will allow you to track the results of your own personal efforts
These new tools will also take you only a few mouse clicks and keyboard strokes to use, but it will take a lot of programming hours to make these new tools that easy to use.
We need your help to make it happen. Our financial goals for this month are modest . . .
* One-time contributions totaling $5,500
* At least 14 new monthly pledgers, for a total of about $180 in new, monthly, re-occurring income
We’ve so far generated . . .
* $1,560 in one-time donations. We need another $3,940
* 9 new monthly pledges, totaling $395 per month — we’d like to get at least 5 more to push us well above our goal
Hitting these marks will enable us to continue working to create new tools that will make you more powerful. If you want to see us do more, faster you can contribute here: https://secure.downsizedc.org/contribute/
Thank you and best wishes.
Jim Babka, President
Perry Willis, Vice President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.