Change the political environment. Recruit more DC Downsizers. Share this message with others.
Subject: Evidence that the 2006 election was a failure
The Republicans used to claim they wanted smaller government. They also claimed that they couldn’t really deliver this until they controlled both the Congress and the White House. In 2000 temporarily, and again in 2002, they gained that control, but they didn’t deliver smaller government. Instead, they increased government by gargantuan amounts.
In 2006 the electorate punished the Republicans. Voters gave the Democrats majorities in the House and Senate. Polls showed several reasons for this. Voters objected to Republican spending, Republican corruption, Republican lawlessness, and a reckless Republican foreign policy.
Democrats were elected to change these Republican policies. Now, two years later, all the Republican’s Big Government policies remain in place. Indeed, the Democrats have actually expanded those policies.
Partisan electoral politics has failed us again.
The latest evidence of this failure came yesterday, when a large number of Democrats joined with Republicans to give President Bush expanded powers to spy on Americans without a warrant. They did this by passing the “FISA Amendments Act.”
The Democrat controlled Congress also sent a strong message of toleration for government sanctioned lawbreaking. They did this by immunizing the tele-communications companies that had collaborated with President Bush to illegally spy on American citizens.
So what will the voters do now?
All signs indicate that they’re not through punishing the Republicans. The Democrats will probably win even larger majorities in Congress, and perhaps the White House too. But we don’t expect this to change anything.
We predict more expansions of government power, more government failure, larger spending, bigger deficits, higher taxes, more violations of the Bill of Rights, and a continuation of President Bush’s reckless foreign policy.
Those of our DC Downsizers who think of themselves as Democrats may not like to hear this, and may not even believe it, but hide and watch, and please, remember our prediction. We’ll admit it if we’re wrong, but we see absolutely no reason to expect that we will be wrong.
Barack Obama’s recent statements on Iraq and Iran, as well as his vote in favor of the “FISA Amendment Act” are strong evidence in favor of our prediction.
Now, it must be admitted that we also failed to defeat the “FISA Amendments Act.” But there are major differences between what we’re doing, and what people do when they vote for candidates.
First, a vote for a candidate is at best a blunt instrument for expressing approval or disapproval. At worst, it’s a sanction for all the evil your elected leaders do in your name.
Second, millions of Americans devote hundreds of millions of dollars, and countless hours of time, to the task of constantly shifting the partisan deckchairs on America’s sinking ship of state. By contrast, a mere 23,400 DC Downsizers are spending just a few minutes per month, and less than $200,000 a year, pressuring their elected representatives. Now . . .
What if those ratios were reversed?
We strongly suggest that many more Americans need to spend much more time and money expressing their desires directly to their elected representatives. We need less partisan electoral politics, and more pressure.
By now, you’ve probably heard the news: It wasn’t even close. The Senate refused all amendments and voted 69-28 for the “FISA Amendments Act.” Please send your Senators a message, “thanking or spanking” them, for their vote. You can learn how your Senators voted, and send your message here.
Some of you may have Senators who voted in opposite ways. If so, you’ll need to adjust your message accordingly. Remember, you’ll be sending one message to both Senators. For instance, one of Jim Babka’s Senators (Ohio) voted for the bill, and one against. Here’s what Jim wrote to the two of them this morning . . .
“I’m pleased by Senator Brown’s vote, but very disappointed by Senator Voinovich’s anti-Fourth Amendment vote. This is not the end of it, for me. I will be supporting legal action to overturn this un-Constitutional law in the courts. And I will be working with other Americans to compel Congress to get this right. After all, the public was against this in roughly inverse proportion to the Senate’s vote for it. So I suspect that thousands of Ohioans will be making Senator Voinovich regret his vote.”
As you can see from Jim’s note to his Senators, both legal and legislative action plans are afoot to fight the “FISA Amendment Act.” We think the legislative campaign might look a lot like what’s happened with the “Real ID Act.” Stay tuned for details. And please consider making a contribution to further our work. You can do that here.
Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.
Perry Willis
Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.