Clearing up a misconception

http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/clearing-up-a-misconeption

Quote of the Day: "There are some bills we don't need to read, we already know how we're going to vote." - Rep. Henry Brown

Does DownsizeDC.org agree or disagree with this statement? The answer may surprise you . . .

Subject: Clearing up a misconception about the Read the Bills Act

The partisans on both sides are using "reading the bill" as a sign of moral superiority. They're jabbing each other over who's read the healthcare bill more carefully, as the Joe Wilson controversy indicates.

As originators of the Read the Bills meme, we consider this a sign of progress. It means that public pressure in support of our idea is both working and growing. Now, if only the Democrats and Republicans in Congress would stop using our idea to grandstand, and would instead pass DownsizeDC.org's Read the Bills Act (RTBA)!

But the debate over which side has read the healthcare bill more carefully raises a question: should members of Congress who intend to vote AGAINST a bill still be required to read every word of it?

We think it would be helpful for them to do so, especially when it comes to debating why the bill should be defeated, but we don't think those who intend to vote NO on a bill should be required to read it.

No one needs to justify opposing a bill that will invade your life, your liberty, or your property. Opponents don't have to prove they know every clause and subsection.

One bad clause may be sufficient to put down the bill and go vote against it.

The onus is always on those who support a bill to justify it.

This gives us an opportunity to clear up a common misconception among members of Congress . . .

Several of them think that DownsizeDC.org's RTBA would require all members to read every word of every bill that comes to a vote. It doesn't. It only requires those who vote in favor of a bill to have signed an affadavit affirming they have read the bill, or heard it read.

Those who oppose a bill because they think its key points are bad, aren't asked to sweat the details.

The RTBA's purpose is to force a bill's supporters to have a basic knowledge of what it is they're passing. This basic knowledge can only come from reading the bill. This simple requirement would . . .

* Prevent politicians from blithely supporting bills just because they sound like they have good intentions
* Require politicians to take responsibility for their vote -- they could no longer hide behind the excuse that they "didn't know that was in the bill"
* Make politicians more concerned to make sure that a nice-sounding bill won't have unintended consequences

We therefore agree with the Quote of the Day above -- at least in one sense. If Representative Brown already knows he's going to oppose a bill, the RTBA won't require him to read it. But he, and all members of Congress, must read every bill they intend to support.

Use our Educate the Powerful System to tell your Congressional employees to pass DownsizeDC.org's Read the Bills Act.

Use your personal comments to tell them that, contrary to their possible misconception, the RTBA only requires them to read bills they support, not bills they oppose. Also remind them that if they pass the healthcare bill without reading it first, they will pay a steep political price.

You can send your letter to Congress here.

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

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org

The Dirty Little Secret

Posted at DownsizeDC.org: http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/the-dirty-little-secret

Guess what else is in the Bailout bill

From Downsize DC:

Quote of the Day: "Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds." -- John Perry Barlow

Subject: Bailout bill contains buried provisions to invade your privacy

Do you think the IRS should set up undercover operations to entrap unsuspecting taxpayers?

Do you think the IRS should release your confidential tax returns to law enforcement and intelligence agencies upon request?

If you answered "No!" to either question, you're out of luck. Before its October recess, Congress passed a bill giving the IRS these powers.

You may ask, "Why didn't Downsize DC oppose this bill?"

As a matter of fact, we wrote against it virtually non-stop for two weeks!

Don't remember?

That's understandable. These provisions are buried in Sections 401 and 402 of Division C in H.R. 1424, the Bailout bill.

The Bailout, or "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act," has a wild history. In just twelve days it morphed from . . .

* A three-page proposal by the Bush Administration
* To a 110-page amendment attached to an unrelated bill that was rejected by the House
* To a 422-page bill passed by Congress and signed into law.

The Library of Congress's summary of the bill is nearly 6,200 words, or 14 pages! (The final Public Print version of the bill, in smaller fonts, is 169 pages.)

In other words, the bailout bill went from bad to worse, in the space of just a few days, and the final price tag included not just $700 billion, but your privacy rights as well.

Next week, we'll explain how the One Subject At A Time Act would have prevented the Bailout bill from passing. This week, however, we'll note how things would have been different under the Read the Bills Act.

* Because the Bailout bill would have gone through a full reading before a qorum in each chamber, Congress would have had incentives to make it as understandable and as brief as possible, with few unrelated provisions and earmarks.
* Because there would have been a seven-day waiting period before voting on passage, members of Congress would have had time to really consider the arguments for and against it.
* Because the bill would have been posted on the Internet during those seven days, Congress would have had an incentive to cut out objectionable parts, such as giving the IRS more power.

Under the Read the Bills Act, Congress would be prevented from spending only a few days to write and pass 400+ page bills costing nearly a trillion dollars. The Read the Bills Act would also make it harder for Congress to attach completely unrelated provisions, such as giving the IRS increased powers to invade your privacy.

Please use our Educate the Powerful System to demand that your Representative and Senators introduce the Read the Bills Act.

In your personal comments, tell them about the IRS provisions in the Bailout bill. Ask them if they knew about these provisions when they voted on the bill. Ask them if this bill was really passed with the "consent of the governed," given that members of Congress didn't read and couldn't understand the bill.

Please also place a Read the Bills Act Coalition button, banner, or tower-ad on your blog or website. This will raise awareness of the Read the Bills Act. In return, your site will be linked at DownsizeDC.org and be mentioned in a Downsizer-Dispatch reaching over 24,000 subscribers. For more information, write to rtbacoalition@downsizedc.org.

This week we welcome Worldwide Sawdust to the Coalition.

Thank you for being part of the growing Downsize DC army.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Spying on Children

Quote of the Day:
"It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe in it".
-- George Carlin

Subject: Spying on Children

On Monday we made the case that had we passed the "Read the Bills Act" and the "One Subject at a Time Act" back in the 90s, the Big Bailout could not have passed last Friday.

If there had been a huge army of DC Downsizers back then, able to achieve universal visibility, and relentless, overwhelming pressure, the government laws, regulations, and programs that have led to the housing bubble and bust could also have been averted.

What was true then, remains true now. The seeds of future disasters are being sown even now, because this is what government does. It creates a crisis, and then exploits the resulting hysteria to gain new powers with which to create even larger disasters. But the cure for this disease also remains the same -- the big army, Operation Everywhere, and passage of "Read the Bills" and "One Subject at a Time."

Here's the latest reason to pass "Read the Bills" . . .

On September 17, the House passed the "School Safety Enhancements Act of 2008."

My first thought was, "The DC Upsizers are at it again!"

My second thought was that the Constitution gives Congress no authority over public safety, except on federal property. This power is left to the states.

But even aside from this, the bill implies something distressing -- that state and local governments are incapable of preserving public safety without Congressional help. But if the states really lack the will and competence to keep schoolchildren safe then they must also be incapable of governing at all. This would imply that, but for Congress, our country would be a nation of 50 Somalias.

This just isn't true.

But when you read the bill, you realize it isn't about school "safety" at all.

The bill expands an already-existing (and unnecessary) grant program for local governments to install metal detectors on school grounds. The bill increases the funding from $30 million to $50 million per year. Worse, it specifically expands the program to include funding for "surveillance equipment."

This, on top of Real ID, Animal ID, TWIC, warrantless spying . . . Perhaps if the younger generation are always being watched at school, they'll get used to it and won't mind the same on the streets, at their jobs, or in their homes.

Do you want to know how your Representitive voted for this atrocity? Too bad. Congress couldn't be bothered with a roll call vote; it passed under "suspension of the rules" by voice vote. (Somehow, though, they did find time for a roll call vote on whether to name a post office building after Theodore Roosevelt.)

Indeed, this "School Safety" bill contained just 8 of the 875 pages of legislation Congress has passed from September 8-20. (The Senate passed 1,185 pages over the same period; a list of the bills can be found below my signature in the blog version of this Dipsatch.)

A lot of them "upsize DC," just as this School "Safety" Act does.

Would it have passed if the Read the Bills Act was in force?

The Read the Bills Act requires that every bill considered by Congress must be publicly read before a quorum in Congress. 875 pages would take a long time to read. Congress would have to set priorities and consider only the most urgent and necessary bills.

The public reading serves another purpose. Thousands of bills are proposed each year, and it's difficult to keep track of which bill will get out of committee and go to the floor for a vote. The public reading of a bill would alert us that Congress is serious about passing a particular bill.

Moreover, the final version of the bill would have to be posted on the Internet for seven days before it comes to a vote, giving individuals and grassroots groups time to study the bill and provide feedback.

UNder the "Read the Bills Act" legislation like this "School Safety Act" might never have reached the floor in Congress, and if it did, groups like Downsize DC could have defeated it.

This is why we need the Read the Bills Act. Tell Congress to stop rushing through so many bills. Tell them you resent the "School Safety Enhancements Act" and that you don't want Congress spending your tax dollars to spy on children. Tell them to prevent bills like it from surfacing again by passing the Read the Bills Act. You can do so here.

Thank you for being part of our growing Downsize DC Army.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org

The Worst of All Worlds

Quotes of the Day

"It will be necessary for us to be a nation of men, and not laws." - Dick Cheney

"We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans..." - Bill Clinton

Subject: The Worst of All Worlds

Why did nearly half the Democrats in the House vote for the "FISA Amendments Act" that's now pending in the Senate, when most of them had opposed warrantless spying and telecom immunity before? The answer is that they were bribed, using your tax dollars.

The Washington Post claims a deal was cut: the Democratic Leadership would support the FISA bill if the President would agree to add $95 billion in DOMESTIC spending to the latest Iraq appropriation.

In other words, House Democrats voted to continue the war and sold the Fourth Amendment for $95 billion.

Republicans say they want less spending. Democrats say they want less war. What's their compromise? More spending and more war.

Indeed, House Democrats supported the Iraq bill at a higher rate than Republicans did.

So much for the "anti-war message" sent by the American people in the 2006 elections!

This sort of "compromise" brings us the worst of all worlds. It's the kind of world expressed in the views of Dick Cheney and Bill Clinton above. Politicians of both parties get annoyed when gadflies start talking about the Constitution and America's proud traditions of individual rights, liberty, and the rule of law. To them, "laws" and "rights" are just bargaining chips to use in passing their spending bills.

The current course they're plotting will lead to economic collapse, fiscal bankruptcy, an Orwellian Big Brother police state, and a faltering, over-extended military empire. Who knows what kind of chaos or despotism will follow.

But the people don't have to wait for things to fall apart. Instead, we can put massive, persistent, resistance-numbing pressure on Congress. Apply the pressure, and members of Congress will bend, and then they will flip-flop. They will have to, if they want to keep their jobs.

So let's tell Congress that the American people do not tolerate their cavalier attitude toward Constitutional rights and the rule of law.

Tell them to pass the "One Subject at a Time Act," which would have forced them to separate the Iraq bill from domestic bills. Tell them you're aware the Democrats in the House sold out in return for increased domestic spending. Tell them you don't like having your tax dollars used as bribes.

Tell them to pass the "Read the Bills Act," which would have forced them to actually read the 116 pages of H.R. 6304, the "FISA Amendments Act."

And keep telling the Senate to oppose the "FISA Amendments Act."

In your comments on all of these messages tell them you're proud we're a nation of laws, not men. Tell them OSTA and RTBA will help restore liberty by making it more difficult to sweep aside Constitutional rights in legislative horse trading.

Also, please consider joining the "Read the Bills Act Coalition." When you add "Read the Bills Act Coalition" button, banner, or tower ad on your website, we'll link to it from our blog and announce it in a Downsizer-Dispatch like this one, reaching almost 23,500 subscribers. To learn more, click here.

This week we welcome two new members to the Coalition:

Reinke Faces Life
The Virginian Rebel

Finally, in the last two weeks of June the House passed 44 bills totaling 969 pages, while the Senate passed 34 bills and 269 pages of legislation. A list of bills is available below my signature at the Downsize DC blog version of this Dispatch.

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

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org

Big Business Loves Big Government

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/2008/may/05/big_business_loves_big_government

Quote of the Day:

"Why not take advantage of the clever Downsize DC system like I just did? Invest five minutes today to sign up, and then from time to time you, too, can help bombard congress and pressure them into doing the right thing with your money."

- "creator," a blogger at Truth Realm

Subject: Big Business Loves Big Government

Politicians tell us that government protects the people from the cut-throat practices of Big Business. But in truth, Big Government is in bed with Big Business. If I were CEO of a major corporation - let's call it the Big Widget Corporation - I would love Big Government. That's because I could:

• lobby Congress to subsidize the widget industry, explaining how vital widgets are to the economy.

• lobby for tariff protection against imported widgets. This will allow my company to gouge American consumers with higher prices.

• lobby for regulations that would drive my smaller competitors out of business.

But what is good for the Big Widget Corporation's shareholders isn't necessarily good for the American taxpayers, who must pay for this special treatment. That's why we want the Big Government-Big Business marriage to end in divorce. We can break up the marriage by changing the way Congress does things.

• John Shadegg's Enumerated Powers Act would would require Congress to reference the specific clause(s) of the U.S. Constitution that grant them the power to enact the law they are considering. Because the Constitution doesn't authorize Congress to subsidize industries or grant special favors for particular businesses, Congress will have an impossible time justifying special-interest legislation. Tell Congress to pass the Enumerated Powers Act here.

• Downsize DC's One Subject at a Time Act would prevent Congress from adding unpopular or special-interest legislation into otherwise popular and much-needed bills. You can tell Congress to introduce this bill here.

• Downsize DC's Read the Bills Act (RTBA) would prevent bad provisions and special favors from sneaking into bills at the last minute. If you have not sent a message to Congress telling them to introduce the RTBA, or haven't done so in a while, you can do so here.

You can also help us by joining the Read the Bills Act coalition. Visitors to your blog or website will see our web-ad, which will take them to the RTBA campaign page where they will learn more. In turn, we will link to your site at our blog and announce your membership in a Downsizer-Dispatch. For information on joining the Coalition, click here.

This week we welcome three new members to the Coalition:

Thunder Radio's March of Liberty
Liberty's Haven
A Republic, If You Can Keep It

Finally, over the past two weeks the House passed 28 bills totaling 725 pages, while the Senate passed 29 bills totaling 286 pages. A list of these bills can be found below my signature at the home blog version of this Dispatch.

Thank you for being a DC Downsizer.

James Wilson
Assistant to the President
DownsizeDC.org