Liberty Maven

Quote of the Day: “Most American interventions come from two closely related childish fantasies: first, that one side in a tribal war is all good and the other all bad; and second, that the weaker tribe are the ‘underdogs’ and therefore the good guys. Just look at those two ideas and you’ll see that they’re a series of disasters waiting to happen.” – Gary Brecher

We’ve each sent a letter to Congress demanding that they stop Obama’s Libyan war.

If you agree with this position you can copy or borrow from our personal comments . . . Read More »

DownsizeDC.org was the first organization to protest the REAL ID Act, six years ago.

Thankfully, countless other groups took up the charge, and secured nullification in 24 state legislatures.

Because of all that pressure, the Dept. of Homeland Security is once again extending the deadline for states to implement REAL ID.

Let’s build on the momentum. Tell Congress to kill REAL ID.

You may borrow from or copy this letter . . .   Read More »

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “By preventing people and companies from taking care of themselves, government feeds its own growth.” – Downsize DC co-founder Harry Browne (1933-2006)

Many of Obamacare’s opponents believe that if we can’t outright repeal it, perhaps it would be easier to defund its implementation.

But even that is harder than it sounds.

That’s because the Obamacare bill contained obscure provisions requiring $105 billion in MANDATORY spending over the next nine years.

This means Congress can’t merely defund this amount in a budget bill. It must specifically REPEAL these provisions.

If they aren’t repealed, the federal healthcare bureaucracy will continue to grow.

Read More »

Quote of the Day: “. . . entitlement to Social Security benefits is not a contractual right” — The U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in Flemming v. Nestor (1960).

The feedback we received about our Social Security campaign makes it obvious that many people have been seriously misled by political saviors. What follows is for those who prefer fact to fantasy . . .

The story of one person can tell the whole story of Social Security.

Ida Fuller, a law secretary from Vermont, was the first person to receive monthly Social Security checks.

* Her first check came on February 1, 1940.
* By the time she received this check she had paid a total of $24.75 into the Social Security System.
* Her first check was for $22.54.
* By the time Fuller received her second check she had already received more than she had contributed to Social Security.
* She lived to be 100 and collected a total of $22,888.92.

It should be perfectly clear to anyone who can handle basic math, that Ms. Fuller’s benefits did NOT come from amounts she had contributed into a trust fund. Instead . . .

Ms. Fuller’s benefits came from the Social Security taxes paid by her children and grand-children over the remaining 35 years of her life. In other words, the taxes WE pay go to fund the benefits of previous generations, NOT our own benefits.

The way Social Security functioned for Ida Fuller is how it still operates today.

Read More »

The “library records” provision of the so-called Patriot Act could also be known as the “gun records” provision, because it also allows the FBI to seize the forms you use to buy guns.

This infamous provision, Section 215, is a direct assault on your Fourth Amendment rights because it allows the FBI to obtain personal information about you, without a warrant and without your knowledge.

Section 215 is set to expire in May, along with two other provisions. But Congress will probably renew these provisions unless it hears from YOU.

Tell Congress to repeal the ENTIRE Patriot Act, and renew NONE of its provisions.

You may borrow from or copy this letter . . . Read More »

Quotes of the Day

“No Intervention!” banner displayed by Libyan insurgents

“We have to get him ourselves.” – Libyan demonstrator

“Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her (America’s) heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. – John Quincy Adams, then-Secretary of State, 1821

We are inspired by the desire of the Libyan people to overthrow Muammar Qadhafi. Sadly, Qadhafi has reacted violently to their protests, and a civil war is now being waged.

We hope the insurgents are committed to freedom, and if so, we hope they will prevail.

But they must to do it without our help. This is THEIR struggle, not ours. As the letter below shows, a U.S. military presence may only undermine the insurgency, not help it.

The good news is that the Obama Administration has shown skepticism toward intervention.

The bad news is that the advocates for intervention are prominent and vocal.

To counter their pressure, we need more members of Congress to speak out in opposition.

Read More »

Quote of the Day: “He (the King) has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.” – Declaration of Independence

Our name describes our goal. We want to downsize the Federal State. But the little states need dramatic downsizing too. For instance, Michael Hodges shows that . . .

* There would be 12.4 million fewer state and local employees if the number hired had remained proportional to population growth since 1946.
* The cost of state and local government went from 6% of GDP in 1946 to 18% today
* If state and local spending was proportional to 1946, the taxpayer would save $4,600 this year alone.

Even worse, all the extra spending at the state and local level seems to be buying you more corruption, more incompetence, and more abuse . . . Read More »

ATTENTION: Cincinnati, Manchester, Minneapolis . . .

What do we do when DC politicians violate the Constitution with impunity? Thomas Jefferson had an answer. In 1798 he wrote that “whensoever” the Federal State “assumes undelegated powers,” that a “nullification of the act is the rightful remedy.” And . . .

Nullification is happening right now!

* Just last week, the Idaho House and the North Dakota Senate passed a Health Care Nullification Act. Nine other states are considering the same.
* Multiple states have passed firearms freedom acts, with more coming soon.

All across the country, the various states are saying “enough” to the Leviathan State in DC!

DownsizeDC.org, Inc. is supporting the Tenth Amendment Center’s 2011 Nullify Now! tour to educate and activate on behalf of this Constitutional tactic

Read More »

Quote of the Day: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” — Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

The Federal State has no constitutional authority for involvement in education. This alone should be sufficient reason to abolish the Department of Education and all federal education spending. But there are also two other powerful reasons . . .

* Federal education programs don’t work. Instead, they actually cause harm.
* The Federal State is headed toward bankruptcy and needs to cut spending.

Statist schools don’t work because they have no incentive to perform adequately. Unlike businesses in the Voluntary Sector of the economy, Statist schools can’t be fired or replaced by the people they supposedly serve.

This is the nature of Statism. It constantly compels the masters (citizens) to serve the servants (politicians and bureaucrats). As a result . . .

You’re now spending more than twice as much for the Feds to meddle with education as taxpayers did in the 1970′s, but student performance hasn’t improved.

Instead, costs have soared. For instance . . . Read More »

Quote of the Day: “Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible.” – Javier Pascual Salcedo

There was a token piece of good news last month. President Obama ordered “a government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive.”

But meanwhile, unelected bureaucrats are continuing to propose NEW anti-competitive, job-killing, regulations.

That’s why we’re grateful that the spending bill the House passed last week de-funds:

* Obamacare
* Greenhouse gas regulations
* Net Neutrality

We proposed exactly this strategy last month, and the House is implementing it.

But this approach is subject to compromises as the House, Senate, and President negotiate a final budget deal. That’s why . . .

ONLY DownsizeDC.org’s Write the Laws Act will stop irresponsible bureaucratic rule-making once and for all. Please tell Congress to pass it.

You may borrow from or copy this letter . . . Read More »