The House is considering H.R.2885, the “Legal Workforce Act.” This bill MANDATES that ALL employers use the “E-Verify” employment verification system. We strongly oppose this bill. It is REAL ID on steroids.

Many reading this have spent years fighting successfully against REAL ID. It seems a shame to lose the battle now simply because the politicians have finally found something — immigration — that scares enough people to make us submit.

We understand that some people who say they want to shrink the federal state just as much as we do, still support E-Verify. They claim this new dictate is needed to combat illegal immigration. We seem to be “heretics” in this case because we believe…

• E-Verify is a disease far worse than that which it seeks to cure; in fact…
• Illegal immigration is NOT the “problem” many politicians and pundits claim it to be.

That second bullet point may stun you. You may reject it immediately, or find it hard to believe. But we do NOT make this claim lightly. We base it on what we think is good evidence and reasoning. If you’re tempted to reject our position please take a moment to consider our evidence and arguments. You can always decide against us if you find our case unconvincing. James Wilson presents our analysis in an essay at the Downsize DC Foundation website.

But, even if you support strong immigration restrictions, E-Verify is still a terrible proposal. It infringes on YOUR right to work, injures small business, and encourages identity theft.

That’s why DownsizeDC.org is giving you a new campaign you can use to tell your elected representatives to oppose the E-Verify national ID system.

The hard-wired letter to Congress begins,

Please oppose H.R. 2885, the “Legal Workforce Act.” Fight any bill that mandates E-Verify or any other national ID system.

You may borrow from or copy these additional comments…

E-Verify is supposedly intended to crack down on illegal immigration. What it will REALLY do is crack down on law-abiding American workers and employers.

1. This Act would require each American to ask permission from the Federal Government when hiring or being hired.
2. The Social Security Administration estimates 3.6 million Americans would have to visit an SSA field office each year in order to KEEP their jobs (http://bit.ly/d0cEj6).
3. It creates a de facto National Identification System that could grow to include biometrics such as fingerprints, DNA and/or an iris scan. This is tantamount to an unconstitutional, warrantless search.
4. It won’t be long before employers will be required to verify whether employees are delinquent in the payment of federal, state, or local taxes, in compliance with child support or alimony decrees, on a terrorist watch list, or accused of a crime.
5. Errors in the verification process will be practically immune from timely legal redress.
6. This bill doesn’t protect employers from criminal prosecution should they employ an individual later proven to be in the U.S. illegally, or who has successfully assumed a fake or stolen identity.
7. The loss of jobs will be staggering as employers substitute machinery for employees or outsource employment to avoid the vexations and costs of compliance.
8. The loss of tax revenues will likewise be huge, as jobs go underground.
9. It will create a massive black market for fake identities, especially for short-term jobs where illegal workers will be long-gone before there is any chance of detection.
10. Finally, it will make it very difficult for law-abiding victims of identity theft to find work.

In summation, E-Verify will lead to both more bureaucracy and a bigger black market, greater surveillance and less freedom, plus higher unemployment and identity theft. Sometimes, the cure is worse than the alleged disease. Oppose E-Verify!

END LETTER

You can send your letter using DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System.

We encourage you to tell us what you think about E-verify and our handling of this issue. You can do this by clicking “Reply.” We won’t be able to respond to everyone, but your comments will be read, and carefully considered.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

Official email newsletter of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation.

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 . . .  

I am pleased Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano extended the deadline for states to implement REAL ID from this May to January, 2013. If she hadn’t done this, people in states that haven’t implemented REAL ID could have been denied the right to board an airplane.

But the Secretary can’t repeal REAL ID. Congress can, and should.

The REAL ID Act . . .

* Forces innocent American citizens to carry an “internal passport” or National ID card in the form of a standardized state driver’s license . . .
* Where their personal information is barcoded and put in a central database . . .
* Which makes them MORE vulnerable to identity theft

REAL ID also violates fundamental liberties. It will be needed not only to board an airplane or enter federal buildings, it could also be required to earn a living, and even to purchase firearms or prescription drugs!

In states that have implemented REAL ID, innocent citizens are forced into longer and multiple visits to the DMV, and to track down records and documents to “prove” their identity.

And states are forced to spend money they don’t have to comply with it. No wonder two dozen states have chosen to “nullify” REAL ID.

The REAL ID Act is a phony piece of legislation that exploited anti-Moslem and anti-Mexican sentiment. But it can’t prevent either terrorism or illegal immigration! The only people it regulates are innocent Americans.

America is better than that.

Show us that YOU’RE better than that. Repeal REAL ID and replace it with nothing.

END LETTER

You can send your letter through DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System.

And if you have friends who value liberty and privacy, we encourage you to forward this Dispatch to them.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

Official email newsletter of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation.

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 . . .

I’m glad that the House is rescinding funding for a REAL ID hub in the H.R. 3082 budget bill. My Senators should ensure that this rescission remains in the bill.

But you should do more. Repeal REAL ID entirely.

* REAL ID assumes I am a foreign terrorist or illegal immigrant, and that I must “prove” my innocence
* I am punished with higher fees, more red tape, and longer DMV lines
* And my private information will be centralized, making me more susceptible to identity theft and other dangers

Furthermore . . .

* The REAL ID law still exists as an unconstitutional, unfunded mandate on the cash-strapped states
* 21 states will still be out of compliance when it is scheduled to take effect in May, 2011 http://www.seattlepi.com/local/431425_realid08.html?source=mypi
* By de-funding the verification hub, there’s no longer any point in forcing the states to implement REAL ID

This is America, land of the free. It’s not the land of “Your papers, please.” Help restore liberty to America and repeal REAL ID.

END LETTER

You can send your letter using DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System.

And please share this good news with your friends. Share this on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/downsizedc

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

P.S. New articles at the Downsize DC Foundation:

* Strategic Thinking: The Rubber Band Syndrome vs. The Mental Depth Charge
* Our Lexicon: Coercion

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

Official email newsletter of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation.

Quote of the Day: “If elections really changed things they would be illegal.” — Emma Goldman

I will start with a confession . . .

* I cheered in 2006 and 2008 when the voters body-slammed the Republicans
* And I will cheer again next week when the Democrats too get slammed

Both the Republicans and the Democrats have thoroughly deserved their repudiations. I think our political parties are so bad that it’s almost always appropriate for incumbents to lose, and for the majority party to revert to minority status. But that doesn’t mean that such changes really improve things.

Did things improve in 2008 when Obama’s Democrats gained control? I think the answer is no. Obama has continued, or worsened, nearly all of Bush’s policies, and with the Democratic Congress has managed to outspend the profligate  Republicans. Should we really expect the Republicans to be different this time?

If you hold out hope, prepare to have it crushed, starting here . . .

Do you know these names?

* Dave Camp
* Wally Herger

Or these names?

* Jerry Lewis
* Bill Young

Camp and Herger are the two highest ranking Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee — the committee tasked with figuring out how to get revenue for the government.

And Lewis and Young are the two highest ranking Republicans on the powerful, big-spending Appropriations Committee.

If you elect a Republican majority, these are the guys who will decide how much the government taxes, borrows, and spends. Will these men gives us real change that leads to real improvement? If their past is any guide then we can expect the following . . .

* Camp and Herger will deploy deficit spending.
* Lewis and Young will continue to expand the budget, especially for wars and projects that violate your civil liberties — things like national ID systems and warrant-less surveillance schemes.

Camp and Lewis, the two men most likely to chair the two most important spending and taxing committees, are part of a Congressional caucus called the Republican Main Street Partnership. The “Main Streeters” call themselves “common-sense conservatives,” because, apparently, other fiscal conservatives lack common-sense. But the word “main” isn’t just a road in their lexicon, it’s code for “mainstream” — you know, like those wonderful people in the media.

This tells us that Camp and Lewis won’t stray very far from the echo-chamber of the DC beltway crowd. They’re resistant to doing anything radical like actually reducing the size, scope, power, and expense of the federal government.

Three of the four men named above also have reputations for being among the biggest porkers in Congress. One watchdog group named Lewis, Congress’s most corrupt member.

So far, so bad, but what about . . .

The Tea Party candidates

My concern about investing hope in the GOP doesn’t end with powerful committee chairmanships. Sadly, even the non-mainstream candidates aren’t so great. For instance . . .

Many so-called Tea Party candidates love the Military-Industrial-Complex, including its fondness for reckless wars that make us less safe. Such candidates also show little concern for the Constitution when it comes to things like due process.

Even worse . . .

Many Tea Party candidates are even bad on government spending. James Ostrowski has noted that there are nine Tea Party candidates for the U.S. Senate, and NONE OF THEM will name EVEN ONE government program they would eliminate.

I’m sorry to break the news, but most of the Tea Party candidates are just as bad as the Republicans, who are just as bad as the Democrats. This is why . . .

We don’t like talking about political personalities. They pretty much all stink.

And we think partisan politics is even worse. Parties are palliative to thought. They’re toxic to discourse. They provide social proof that cognitive dissonance is just dandy, while logic and consistency are dangerously radical.

So mostly we avoid these subjects here in the Downsizer-Dispatch. We’ve tried, instead, to focus on issues and principles. But try as we might . . .

Americans love the political silly season

I’ve just spoken to three groups in two states. One aspect of my experience was fascinating. In several conversations with those who heard me speak, even where I had been clear that this was not the time to worry about electing the right people, good folks still wanted to talk about partisan politics — who’s up, who’s down, who will run in 2012, etc.

Pogo said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Partisan political elections are a stronghold of the enemy. When we focus our attacks in that area we are hitting them in a strong point, NOT a weak point. This means that the Statist politicians will constantly win, and YOU will constantly lose. By contrast . . .

The Susquehanna Valley Regional Tea Party (SVRTP) has done things the Downsize DC way, with striking results. As one of their leaders puts it, “We’re not here to support candidates, we’re here to get candidates to support what we want.”

Still another SVRTP leader got visibly angry at their recent rally because a Congressman was allowed to address the audience! The SVRTP view is that candidates should attend their meeting NOT to speak, but to LISTEN!

What a breath of fresh air! And you know what? It works! Just look at what the SVRTP has accomplished. They’ve gotten the sitting Congressman from their area, and the future Congressman from the other district in their area, to agree to introduce all of the Downsize DC Agenda bills. Now ask yourself a question . . .

Which is going to do more to improve America . . .

* Replacing one group of gangster politicians with another group of gangsters, or . . .
* Making ALL the politicians bow to what we want?

Please take notice, the SVRTP has NOT endorsed, worked for, contributed to, or elected ANY CANDIDATE, but they have PRESSURED all of their local politicians, and the PRESSURE has worked!

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: CHANGING THE WORLD IS EASY, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS STOP DOING HARD THINGS THAT DON’T WORK (like worrying about elections).

Think about it another way. How big an army of supporters did the SVRTP need to get their local politicians to support what they wanted? They had 4,000 people come to a rally last year, and they have maybe 200 people who are active on a regular basis. That’s it. That’s all. So ask yourself this . . .

How many DC Downsizers do you need in your district to control your House rep? Whatever that number is, THAT should be your goal — not Downsize DC’s goal, but YOUR goal. If it was easy for the SVRTP it can be easy for you too. We’ll show you how in the days and weeks ahead.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

Official email newsletter of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation.

For those who are interested in donating to Amash, a popular message circulating the internet has been posted below. It outlines over 20 reasons as to why one should donate to this campaign.

1 – Ron Paul has endorsed Amash, calling him “one of the most principled young leaders I have seen in a generation.”
2 – Justin Amash supported Ron Paul in 2008, donating over $1000 to his campaign.
3 – Amash has a great chance of winning, with the Grand Rapids Press calling the primary a “two-man race.” With no incumbent and a conservative district, winning the primary virtually guarantees his election.
4 – The big-government GOP establishment is supporting his opponent.
5 – He’s the only legislator to post all of his votes on Facebook in real-time! If you don’t think he’s a true defender of liberty, just see for yourself!

6 – Amash is “Mr. No” of the Michigan State House, often alone in voting against bills.
7 – Club for Growth has endorsed him, saying he “epitomizes a new breed of limited government conservatives committed to breaking Washington’s addiction to deficits and debt.”
8 – He is a big supporter of Austrian economics, and has a poster of Hayek hanging in his office.
9 – He is a sponsor of a bill to block “Real ID” in Michigan.
10 – He was the lone NO vote on the recent bill to ban K2, which is similar to marijuana.
11 – He actually reads every bill.
12 – With Justin in Congress, Ron Paul won’t be the only no vote on bills.
13 – Amash has been a crusader against corporatism, opposing Michigan’s culture of keeping taxes high, and giving tax breaks to politically-connected companies.
From his issues page
14 – He opposes federal involvement in education, and supports home schooling.
15 – He opposes energy subsidies.
16 – He believes the best way to preserve the environment is through enforcement of property rights.
17 – He understands and opposes the Federal Reserve’s manipulation of interest rates to cause the boom-bust cycle.
18 – He pledges to repeal the health care bill and work towards real free market reform.
19 – He believes troops should only be deployed under an official constitutional declaration of war.
20 – He opposes any restrictions on the second amendment.
21 – He opposes abuses of the commerce clause which violate state sovereignty and individual rights.
22 – He scored 100% on the Americans for Prosperity scorecard.
23 – He has been endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus.

Let’s stop them! Please tell Congress to repeal REAL ID and oppose any further attempts at creating a national ID card.

You may borrow from or copy this letter . . .

What is the purpose of REAL ID?

* to prevent terrorists from boarding planes, even though there are an infinite number of other ways to engage in terrorism
* to prevent illegal immigrants from getting driver’s licenses – which only increases the likelihood they will drive without ever being tested, creating more dangerous roads http://tinyurl.com/yf5r595

Why should either (misguided) goal interfere with an American citizen’s attempt to renew a driver’s license?

REAL ID is working exactly as I thought it would. It punishes innocent Americans like me with red tape and higher fees by forcing us to “prove” we’re not terrorists or illegal immigrants.

In Florida . . .

* the driver’s license fee jumped from $25 to $48
* a woman was denied a license for failing to produce certified documentation of her first marriage, held in 1958 in Minnesota  http://tinyurl.com/ykb4kud
* and a 68 year-old man’s Rhode Island birth certificate that had been used to get into the Air Force, and to get a Florida license 20 years earlier, was rejected  http://tinyurl.com/ylzyhct

Nevada has also been plagued by long lines with applicants turned away. http://tinyurl.com/yzgfex3

Meanwhile, two New York DMV workers were recently arrested for selling “authentic” ID’s to criminals. http://tinyurl.com/yh7r7zm

This hardly inspires confidence that a nationalized ID system will stop terrorists and criminals from getting driver’s licenses!

And yet the Administration and Congress are considering a replacement to REAL ID, the PASS ID Act, which will make it even easier for corrupt state employees to get access to my identity documents! http://www.realnightmare.org/about/114/

In addition, Sens. Lindsay Graham and Chuck Schumer want to force all American workers to carry a biometric ID card. http://tinyurl.com/yd83dwt

In other words, to hold down a job, I would have to be fingerprinted, enrolled in a national database, and possibly tracked.

I have had it! This is America! Americans shouldn’t have to prove we’re not terrorists, or that we’re not illegal immigrants. I have the right to travel. I have the right to earn a living. I resent and reject any government program that presumes I must ask for permission.

I demand that you repeal the REAL ID Act and do everything in your power to oppose the PASS Act, the Graham-Schumer card, and all forms of national ID.

END LETTER

You may send your letter using DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System.

And please consider making a donation to further our work.

We appreciate your support!

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

Official email newsletter of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation.

* The good news: 46 states were not in compliance with REAL ID by December 31, forcing DHS Secretary Napolitano to extend the deadline to May, 2011 – and there’s no sign the states have any intention of complying with it by then
* The bad news: the Senate could pass REAL ID’s equally-bad replacement, the PASS Act, this month

Please tell Congress to oppose the PASS Act and instead repeal the REAL ID Act with NO replacement.

You may copy or borrow from the following letter . . .  

The refusal of states to comply with REAL ID has led to its virtual nullification. This rebellion was one of the few bright spots of the past decade. Indeed, I hope the states get into the habit of opposing federal intrusion.

However, I realize the states opposed REAL ID primarily because of costs and technological problems. While these are valid concerns, the main reason I oppose REAL ID is because I value my privacy and freedom.

I therefore ask that you ignore the requests of governors and other state politicians to replace REAL ID with the S. 1261, the PASS Act. While the PASS Act does give the states more flexibility and financial aid, it still fails to guard my privacy or keep me safe. Here are just some of PASS ID’s problems: http://www.realnightmare.org/about/114/

* It requires innocent Americans to provide a broad array of identity documents, snarling them in long lines and bureaucratic red tape
* By requiring storage of identity documents like birth certificates in a central location for even longer periods than Real ID, PASS ID will cause identity theft
* PASS ID permits “enhanced drivers’ licenses,” which contain long-range radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, which can be used for tracking by anyone with a reader.
* If passed, the PASS ID will likely be expanded to serve other purposes, like riding a bus, purchasing a gun, or registering to vote.

The PASS Act will impose new burdens on the American people and actually make us less safe.

I therefore insist that you oppose the PASS Act. I also demand that you repeal REAL ID and replace it with nothing.

END LETTER

You can send your letter using DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System

And please consider making a donation to further our work.

James Wilson
Assistant Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h
is the official email list of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation

Please tell Congress to repeal REAL ID and reject the PASS ID.

This is what I wrote in my letter . . .

REAL ID has proved to be unworkable and unwanted.

• 36 states will not be in compliance with REAL ID by the January 1 deadline
• Fifteen states have passed statutes prohibiting it, and another ten have passed resolutions denouncing it. http://realnightmare.org/news/105/

If REAL ID is not repealed, 

• Countless numbers of Americans will not be able to fly without a passport – even for domestic flights!
• Or they will be forced to go through secondary screenings http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/48756954-bingaman-udall-on-real-id-pass-id

I insist that you take immediate steps to repeal the REAL ID Act.

• Don’t rely on the Homeland Security Secretary to issue extensions or waivers for the states
• Don’t replace REAL ID with the PASS ID.

The proposed PASS ID relieves states of some costs and burdens, but in some ways it’s even worse than REAL ID. As the Electronic Privacy Information Center notes . . . http://epic.org/privacy/pass_id/

• The data collection requirements of PASS ID are virtually identical to those of REAL ID.
• PASS ID requires a digital facial image, which can then be used to scan individuals through close-circuit television systems to “pick a face out of a crowd.”
• PASS ID requires the retention of digital copies of personal records for indefinite periods of time – this invades the privacy of innocent Americans and increases the risk of identity theft
• PASS ID would allow the use of RFID technology in identification documents. This is even worse than REAL ID, and could lead to government tracking of our movements, bringing the supposed “land of the free and home of the brave” one step closer to a police state.

The American people do not want to be monitored and tracked by the government. We do not want a national ID card, whether it’s called REAL ID or PASS ID. A national ID card will only make us more vulnerable to terrorists and other criminals who can hack into government databases. Moreover, increased government monitoring and data-collecting will invite more errors and more abuse.

A NATIONAL ID CARD WILL MAKE US LESS SAFE.

I therefore insist that you completely repeal REAL ID immediately and reject the PASS ID Act too.

END LETTER

You can send your message through DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System. https://secure.downsizedc.org/etp/campaigns/30

And share this message with your friends: http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/real-id-will-you-get-caught-by-the-deadline

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h
is the official email list of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation

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

Send your letter to Congress using DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System.

If you like what we’re doing, please help us to do more . . .

* Start a monthly pledge so we can reach more people
* Make a one-time donation to further the work of your Downsize DC Army

Your support is our progress.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h
is the official email list of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation

“The State is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.” — Frederic Bastiat, French economist of the 19th Century

“How did I go bankrupt? Two ways. Slowly, and then all of a sudden.” — paraphrased from “The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway

“May you live in interesting times.” — a proverbial Chinese curse

• Retained, and in some cases expanded, all the Bush-era policies — the wars, the PATRIOT Act, warrantless spying, REAL ID, imprisonment without due process, extraordinary rendition, etc.
• Begun to extend the already existing foundations for a future socialist state with things like direct government ownership of businesses, the health care bill, cap and trade, and a host of other measures big and small

Put the Bush and Obama policies together, sprinkle in a couple more terrorist attacks, and one or two more state-caused financial calamities, and you have a recipe for . . .

• The destruction of American liberty
• The blossoming of a Leviathan State

Read the signs . . .

We are living through a Statist revolution.

Statism is a mindset that prefers coercion to cooperation. Statists love the State because they are blind to its fundamental nature . . .

• The State is a monopoly that you cannot easily fire, replace, or even control
• Everything the State does relies on coercion

If you decide that . . .

• You don’t want to pay for, or be subject to, the new health care plan, or that . . .
• You prefer to buy and sell using gold and silver instead of Federal Reserve Notes, or that . . .
• You want to do, or not do, a host of other things that the politicians either require or prohibit,
• Then eventually a policeman will come to your door and threaten you with a gun, to make you submit

People who advocate expansive State action are really saying, “I think you should be threatened with, or actually suffer violence, if you don’t fund my pet schemes, or live the way I think you should.”

Such people would never go door to door pointing a gun at their neighbors, but the second-hand mechanism of the State allows them to hide their eyes from the violence implicit in what they profess.

Our government was founded to limit this kind of coercion. The American State was given two main functions . . .

• To punish coercion committed by one citizen against another
• To deter coercion by foreign States

Beyond that, nearly the entire Constitution is devoted to prohibiting State violence. This was the purpose of the divisions of power, the checks and balances, and the Bill of Rights. But now those protections lie in tatters.

Everyone is trying to use the State to live at the expense of everyone else, or to micro-manage their neighbors. Our traditional culture of individual liberty, personal responsibility, and peaceful, non-violent cooperation, is slowly dying. We are nearing a point where it may even die completely, suddenly, when we least expect it. As a result . . .

We live under the Chinese curse of interesting times. But we urge you to resist despair. We are even prepared to predict . . .

The End of Statism

Our reason is simple. Statism doesn’t work. The violence at its heart always . . .

• Destroys more than it creates
• Multiplies its victims, who become increasingly deperate enough to resist

Our purpose is to recruit and organize that resistance into an army. It’s . . .

• Why we do
• What we do
• The way we do it

We know that successful resistance will come slowly, before it comes suddenly. Victory will take time, but the time’s going to pass anyway, so why not use it wisely? This is why . . .

We reject all “get powerful quick” schemes as inherently unworkable. We know that societies and movements evolve slowly more often than they leap. History is littered with causes that failed because they couldn’t wait to succeed.

We neither need, nor expect, overnight success. Do you?

What we need instead is constant and consistent progress. And for that we need you, and for you to need us.

Remember where we’re going. We’re building toward the day when we can . . .

• Reach everyone, everywhere, every day, with the case for freedom and against Statism
• Build a big parade — a movement — in front of which opportunistic politicians will want to march. They’ll claim we’re following them, and we’ll let them think that!
• Deploy a huge army to exert relentless, resistance-numbing pressure on Congress, to make them submit

And remember how we’re going to get there . . .

• Slowly and steadily, but also surely
• One person at a time
• One dollar at a time
• One simple action at a time
• With each small step building toward the next larger step

The end of the month is here. We did more this month than we did last month. Now we need your financial support to do even more in November. Please . . .

• Start a monthly credit card pledge
• Or make a one-time donation
• You can do so here

Your support is our progress.

Perry Willis
Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h
is the official email list of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation

Please send Congress a letter objecting to any further funding for REAL ID.

You can copy what I said in my letter to Congress . . .

I’m upset that Congress just appropriated $60 million for the REAL ID national identification scheme. I’ve asked you repeatedly to repeal REAL ID, and replace it with nothing. I’m repeating my request today.

I do not want a centralized national ID system. It lays the foundation for a police state, and will do little or nothing to improve security. Instead, it will subject me to increased risk of identity theft, and eventually entangle me in new Congressional schemes to do things like control my health care decisions.

I also object because the REAL ID Act was passed under false pretenses. It was rejected three times by the U.S. Senate, and was only enacted because it was added to a larger bill containing funding for disaster relief and Iraq. REAL ID never could have passed on its own merits, but now that we have it, we can’t seem to get rid of it. But you, as my representative, can do something about this . . .

Please introduce legislation to repeal REAL ID and replace it with nothing. I’m paying close attention to how you represent me.

END OF SAMPLE LETTER

You can send your letter to Congress here.

Please take additional steps to spread the word, recruit more DC Downsizers, and increase the heat on Congress:

* Ask other people to send a letter to Congress — forward them this message
* Digg this message on our Blog
* Contribute so we can reach more people

Jim Babka, President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Check out these recent posts on our blog:

President Obama keeps a promise http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/a-downsize-dc-victory
Congress responds to Constitutional questions http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/how-they-responded
Chatter about the “Read the Bills” idea http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/read-the-bills-roundup

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h
is the official email list of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation

Quote of the Day: “A danger foreseen is half avoided.” –Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)

A bill numbered H.R. 3471 calls itself “The REAL ID Repeal and Identification Security Enhancement Act of 2009.” The bill was introduced by Representative Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee. Here’s the good part . . .

H.R. 3471 would actually repeal the REAL ID Act. Thus, the REAL ID scheme to create a national identity card would be gone.

Here’s what we consider the pretend part . . .

H.R. 3471 also restores the identity security provisions of the “Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act.”

These provisions are indeed better than those in the REAL ID Act. But there are aspects that lead us to view it in a more harsh light than perhaps some others would. Read what the ACLU says about the bills and see if you can spot the sticking point . . .

“Similar to the Akaka-Sununu Senate bill of 2007 and the Allen House bill of 2007, Rep. Cohen’s bill would eliminate most of the requirements that laid the foundation for a National ID card, such as the obligation that all data and systems be standardized. The proposal also requires a collaborative approach, called negotiated rulemaking, which would advise the Department of Homeland Security on how to maximize driver’s license security while minimizing the administrative burden on the states.”

The troublesome words are “most of the requirements that laid the foundation for a National ID card,” and “negotiated rulemaking.”

“Most of the requirements” doesn’t mean “all of the requirements.” In addition . . .

We’ve written an entire piece of legislation, called the “Write the Laws Act,” that would prohibit unelected Executive Branch bureaucrats from enacting any kinds of rules whatsoever.

The fact that these rules would (as we understand it) be negotiated with other unelected bureaucrats in the various states doesn’t make it much better, and it might even make it worse. Likewise . . .

The fact that the so-called “Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act” places limits on the kind of bureaucratic rules that can be created does little to foster our confidence in a good outcome. I know of too many examples of “rulemaking” that violates either the spirit, the letter, or both, of the supposed “limits” created by the enabling legislation.

Removing “most of the requirements that laid the foundation for a National ID card,” could too easily lead to restoring all of those requirements through the bureaucratic backdoor.

So I just sent another letter to my representatives asking for the repeal of the REAL ID Act, and here’s what I wrote in my personal comments . . .

H.R. 3471 is a step in the right direction, but it needs to be amended to also repeal the “negotiated rulemaking” about state ID cards authorized by the “Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act.” I would appreciate it if you would tell Representative Steve Cohen that you would be willing to co-sponsor his bill if he would make that amendment.”

If you like my approach on this please use DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System to send a similar letter to your Congressional employees through our “Repeal REAL ID” campaign. You can do that here.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h
is the official email list of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. & Downsize DC Foundation