Where and when you can meet Jim Babka this Wednesday, plus, another shot at REAL ID
Some good things have resulted from our past efforts . . .
I spoke at the Williamsport, PA Tea Party on August 29th. There were over 4,000 people there! The organizing committee had a scroll full of demands for Congress to move in a downsizing direction. Hundreds of people signed the scroll. Included among the demands were our Read the Bills, One Subject at Time, and Write the Laws proposals. Since then . . .
The Williamsport Tea Party Committee has been active, including delivering four busloads of people to the 9/12 rally in Washington, DC. They’ve met several times to plan their long-term strategy. The result . . .
They’ve decided to focus on our “transpartisan,” Downsize DC Agenda proposals, the Read the Bills Act (RTBA) and the One Subject at a Time Act (OSTA).
Tom Anderson, a member of our team and one of the leaders in the Williamsport committee, sent me the following message to describe their thinking . . .
” . . . we believe that this issue (RTBA and OSTA) is the most easily addressable, bipartisan, and most helps us achieve the other demands. In contemplating how to proceed to push this demand, we reviewed DownsizeDC’s efforts . . . and decided that the most effective means toward accomplishing it is to 1) make our community aware of the problem and our efforts, and 2) get them all to push their Congress critters to sponsor the DownsizeDC legislation.”
The Williamsport Tea Party committee gets it! RTBA and OSTA are levers we can use to restrain government excess in all areas. Passing these bills will make it easier to achieve other demands.
To support their efforts the committee has invited me to speak to them on Wednesday, November 18, and answer questions about RTBA and OSTA. More than 200 people are expected to attend this meeting.
If you’re in the area on Wednesday, you’re invited to attend the meeting. I’d love to meet you.
The meeting starts at 7:30 PM at the Cinema Center in downtown Williamsport, PA.
Now, for today’s action item . . .
It’s been awhile since we’ve asked Congress to repeal the REAL ID Act. We don’t want them to think we’ve forgotten about it, because that would make them think they’ve gotten away with it. Please send Congress a letter reminding them that you want REAL ID repealed:
You can use my letter to Congress as a model for you own . . .
I want my Representative and my Senators to be the first to introduce legislation that repeals the REAL ID Act. Do NOT introduce legislation that replaces REAL ID with some similar scheme. I’ve asked you to do this repeatedly, and will keep asking until you do it.
My request represents the majority opinion on this matter, so it’s good politics to honor my request. The simple act of introducing such legislation would win you a lot of brownie points nationally, as well.
I’m well aware that the beltway echo-chamber constantly tells you that REAL ID is needed to protect us from terrorism. I think this is naive. No suicide attack will be stopped by an identity card. Terrorists will devise tactics to work around REAL ID, so the only people really impacted by this scheme are innocent American citizens.
I am a firm believer that power corrupts. And the more power gets centralized at the federal level, the more likely corruption becomes. I want identification cards to be decentralized, at the state level. I do not want my life entangled in the federal databases and tracking schemes that will inevitably result from REAL ID.
Please remember — everything you do is based on force. I do not want to be coerced into carrying a national ID card. Don’t be like the Mafia. Don’t fine me, or imprison me, or make me lose my job just because I’m not willing to accept your supposed protection.
END OF LETTER
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Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.