We want to shove the “Read the Bills Act” (RTBA) down Congress’s throat. In fact…
We think we could pass RTBA, and all our other bills, in as little as five years. How?
We think the necessary support is already out there.
Consider…
- How many Americans would support RTBA and our other bills if they knew about them?
- How many Americans would have to consistently pressure Congress to get them to submit?
If the second number is less than the first, then the task is theoretically possible. But we think it’s more than theoretically possible. We think there’s a real-world model we could follow…
Gun Owners’ Rights
It’s become almost impossible to pass gun control legislation in this country. And pro-gun groups have also become strong enough to get good legislation passed in most states. Concealed-carry and even open-carry laws are prevalent. How many supporters did it take to get that done?
Our research tells us the answer might be as few as 3 million but not more than 5 million people.
So which is more controversial, gun ownership or the idea that Congress should have to read its bills?
It seems obvious that the potential support for our bills must number in the tens of millions, and perhaps even more than 100 million. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if the support went as high as 200 million. After more than 200 interviews, we’ve not found a single radio talk show host who didn’t like Read the Bills. Thus…
We could probably get the job done if we recruited just 5 out of every hundred people who like our bills. Does this sound simple and doable to you?
So where’s the starting point?
We’ve always had the same vision…
- Step one: Cover our modest operating costs.
- Step two: Use every additional dollar raised to do outreach to find new people who like our bills.
We thought this could create a “perpetual recruitment machine.” We believed that machine could lift us to the required amount of pressure to make Congress submit. Our goal was always, in every legislative battle, to emerge bigger and stronger — much harder for Congress to ignore. Eventually, we’d be so large they’d have to submit to our pressure on bills like RTBA.
We still believe this! But raising money isn’t easy. We’ve spent years trying to put this plan into action. And we can tell you from brutal experience… the first part is the hard part. But persistence pays off…
We’ve got good news!
A major donor has covered all our basic expenses for January. Right now, he’s considering doing the same thing for February and March too. This is our chance to demonstrate our “perpetual recruitment machine” idea. But we need your help.
Any amount you contribute before midnight December 31 will be used to buy promotional advertising.
We’ll use your money to find and recruit people who like our bills. If that works then we’ll have a “proof of concept” — a winning proposition that will attract new supporters who will work alongside you. These new supporters…
Will expand your voice.- Should be equally enthusiastic about a perpetual recruitment machine that will also expand their voice.
If you can donate to help us find and recruit people who like our bills, then maybe we can convince our major donor to continue covering our basic operations until we achieve escape velocity.
What do we mean by escape velocity?
Escape velocity is the point at which our recruitment machine can run on its own, no matter…
- how much any individual donor gives, or
- how well or poorly any particular recruitment tactic does.
With escape velocity, we could power past any difficulty and keep growing our army. We’ll constantly accelerate towards our goal.
We think escape velocity could be had with as few as 100,000 people who were willing to pressure Congress, of whom 1 in 10 would be donors at an average of about $50 per year. That would provide a baseline budget of $500,000, on top of what our major patron provides.
We think this level of support could accelerate our growth. We could re-invest and attain between 3 million and 5 million supporters within five years. And once we have that…
We could compel Congress to pass our bills.
Let me state restate this proposal, just to make it clear…
- If we tell 100 people about our bills.
- We assume that at least 50 of those will like our proposals.
- If 3 of those people then agree to ask their reps to sponsor our bills, we have a workable plan that includes a perpetual growth machine.
- Before long, Congress would have to act or risk the wrath of disappointed constituents.
Will you contribute to do the necessary outreach? Please understand, your money will fund outreach. Our operating expenses are already covered (for the moment). That’s why it’s important to give now!
You can make your contribution or start your monthly pledge using our secure online form. We offer a number of giving options, and the address for mailing checks is located there.
Thanks for your past and future support.
Jim Babka & Perry Willis
Co-founders
Downsize DC
P.S. Contributions to DownsizeDC.org are NOT tax-deductible. If year-end tax-deductibility is important to you, please make your contribution to the Downsize DC Foundation, home of the Zero Aggression Project and our amicus briefs.
But if that deduction is not crucial, please fund our Read the Bills Act efforts at DownsizeDC.org: https://archive.downsizedc.org/contribute/