Liberty Maven

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 President Obama ordered “a government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive.”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 »

Quote of the Day: “Worrying works. About 90% of the things I worry about never happen.” — Woody Paige, on ESPN’s “Around the Horn”

Congress is going to raise the debt ceiling yet again. They’ve done this 70 times in the past, but this next time should be the last time.

We’ve created a new campaign to help to achieve this. The Republicans are pushing a Balanced Budget Amendment that has some great features. It would . . .

* mandate that Congress balance the federal budget each year.
* prevent Congress from spending more than 20% of Gross Domestic Product.
* require a 2/3 super-majority to increase your taxes.

This would mean that . . .

* the debt ceiling would never be raised again.
* the State’s cancerous growth would be checked.
* it would become almost impossible to raise federal taxes.

Here’s the deal . . .

If Congress (wrongly) insists on lifting the debt ceiling yet again, then they need to give us something in exchange.

What we need in exchange is a strong Balanced Budget Amendment.

To ensure that this is the last time they raise the debt ceiling, we need a strong Balanced Budget Amendment.

Read More »

To get what you want, you must first ask for it.

You might NOT get EVERYTHING you want, but you’re more likely to make progress.

If you want the Patriot Act to be repealed, you must tell Congress. Otherwise, it will never be repealed, nor will it even be reformed.

Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, is offering a bill that renews some of the expiring provisions of the Patriot Act. It includes civil liberties protections, but also extends the Patriot Act for TWO MORE YEARS.

The bill, S.193, WOULD BE AN IMPROVEMENT. But it’s NOT what we want. If we call for outright repeal of the Patriot Act . . .

* Congress may be awakened to its abuses and start investigations
* Even if we don’t get an outright repeal, more members might start calling for reform and endorse measures like S.193

On the other hand, if we ask for something like S.193 as our starting point . . .

* We’ll have no chance of repealing the Patriot Act, which is what we want (as illustrated in the letter below)
* Even a compromise like S.193 will end up being more watered-down than it would have been if we had asked for repeal directly.

That’s why we, at DownsizeDC.org, are calling for REPEAL of the Patriot Act, even while others are calling for mere reform.

If you agree with our analysis, then please ask Congress for what you want. Read More »

Quote of the Day: “Right now, China, the government, can disconnect parts of its internet, in the case of war, we need to have that here too.” — Senator Joe Lieberman

The “Internet kill switch” bill was promoted by Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins in the last Congress. The bill would have granted President Obama the power to shut down much of the Internet in the event of a “cybersecurity emergency.”

The good news is that Congress adjourned before passing it.

The bad news is that, on the very same day Egypt’s dictator Hosni Mubarak imposed an Internet blackout on his country, Collins announced her intention to re-introduce the bill.

But as the letter below indicates, giving the President this power is extremely dangerous and won’t protect us from cybersecurity attacks.

Please tell Congress to defeat this bill using DownsizeDC.org’s Hands Off the Internet campaign.

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

Quote of the Day: “…a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.” – Thomas Jefferson

The House Republican Study Committee (RSC) has proposed the Spending Reduction Act.

This bill actually targets dozens of programs for elimination or reduction. You can see the list in a pdf format here: http://rsc.jordan.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Spending_Reduction_Act–TWOPAGER.pdf

The cuts would total $2.5 trillion over ten years. Some of that amount could be based on rosy scenarios. It’s certainly true that cuts to defense and entitlements must still be made to balance the books, but this bill is still an important first step. It means . . .

Read More »

The Internet managed to revolutionize our lives without the involvement of busy-body politicians. Instead, the Internet is entirely regulated by non-State institutions, incentives, and rules. These free market forms of regulation actually work, unlike most State regulations. The politicians find this hard to tolerate, so they’re constantly looking for excuses to meddle.

That’s why DownsizeDC.org is introducing our Hands Off the Internet campaign.

If you like what the free market version of the Internet has done for you, then please take action to protect it from interference by The State.

In the coming weeks and months we’ll use this campaign to address specific issues. But Congress should also be told right now where you stand on the issue as a whole. That’s why we’re asking you to send a letter to your Representative and your two Senators telling them that you value Internet freedom.

The hard-wired letter says . . .

Please oppose any attempts to undermine Internet freedom.

You may borrow from or copy these additional remarks, or write something of your own . . . Read More »

Quote of the Day: “We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.” — Abigail Adams (1744-1818) Source: letter to John Adams, 1774

Many states can’t pay their bills. Their unfunded obligations total trillions of dollars. Some of these states will want a bailout from Congress. Do you want to pay for this, or should the politicians and the unions who created these messes feel the pain instead of you?

I wrote Congress telling them to oppose any bailout of our corrupt and incompetent state governments.

I encourage you to do the same, using our “No Bailouts” campaign. The hardwired letter to Congress reads . . .

“No government money, whether borrowed or taxed, should ever be used to bail out private financial interests, or wasteful state governments.”

If you want to add to this letter you may borrow from or copy what I wrote . . . Read More »

The Downsize DC Foundation’s website, www.DownsizeDCFoundation.org, continues to grow. Today, we bring you one of those articles, from the Our Lexicon category . . .

“The Dictator Fallacy” by Jim Babka

fal·la·cy -
* a misleading or unsound argument.
* Logic. any of various types of erroneous reasoning that render arguments logically unsound.

Do you . . .

* believe in our Constitution with its different branches and its separation of powers?
* support the idea that The State should be managed by elected representatives?
* oppose monarchies, dictatorships, and other authoritarian forms of The State?

I bet you’d answer “Yes” to all of these questions.

Despite answering yes, nearly everyone pretends, at some point, that they can design laws and programs that manage human behavior, leading to an ideal social result.

* Maybe even you believe you know the best way to solve a particular societal problem with a better organizational solution.
* Perhaps you admire and support a particular candidate who claims he has just the right incentive, program, or regulation that will do the trick.

Well, if you ever catch yourself (or another person), making such a pronouncement, then you can KNOW that either you (or they) are wrong. You see . . .

Read More »

“Repeal the Real ID Act” is DownsizeDC.org’s oldest active campaign.

That’s because REAL ID – which is a de facto national ID card – lays the foundation for a future police state.

That’s why so many people have fought against it so hard for so long. And thanks to that resistence REAL ID still hasn’t been implimented, six years after it became law! A big part of this is because of your pressure.

And now there’s more good news . . .

There’s a silver lining in the monstrous, 1,926-page appropriations bill (H.R. 3082). This bill rescinds funding for a REAL ID “hub.” The House already passed the bill, and the Senate will consider it as soon as TODAY.

This hub would have created a centralized ID verification system, where states share driver information with each other. Without this hub, REAL ID suffers a fatal blow.

That’s why we’re asking you to tell Congress to support this cut in REAL ID’s budget, and to repeal REAL ID altogether.

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

Unless Congress acts to fix their mistake, a paperwork tsunami will drown every business, including yours, and all of your favorite organizations, including Downsize DC.

This coming tsunami is the new requirement that every business must fill out 1099s forms for every company with which it spends more than $600. This new burden was a provision of the Obamacare bill.

Everyone hates it. Both parties CLAIM they want to repeal it, but they can’t agree about where to fit it in their tight schedule, or whether or not to “pay” for the lost revenue with spending cuts elsewhere.

Well, they SHOULD cut spending. But let’s be clear: There’s NO revenue loss to contemplate. The 1099 requirement will cut into profits. That would mean less, not more revenue for our bloated government.

Please tell Congress to stop delaying and to please repeal the 1099 requirement immediately.

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