Downsize DC: Still Worth the Effort
Even if the ruling class doesn't care, it listens
by Jim Babka
As one of those who has been feeling lately that sending a letter to your Congresscritter is increasingly pointless—they're bought men and women, bought by the banskter-driven Pathocracy, which has far more influence than little ol' us—I resist this message from Jim Babka. But he does make a valid point: it's a matter of numbers to these drones of power. If you have the numbers, they obey you. Good argument from a fine organization. Please support Downsize DC with letters and contributions. — bw
Friends:
The House passed the DISCLOSE Act by merely seven votes on Thursday, June 24, 2010. Since then I've received some emails full of despair, saying things like...
Why does it seem that freedom always loses, while Statism always advances?
What's the point of fighting if we rarely, if ever, win?
The world is doomed, so shouldn't we just retreat to our bunkers and wait for the apocalypse?
I reject this despair. Instead, I claim that our DISCLOSE Act loss is convincing proof that the Downsize DC strategy really works! Think about it...
Congressional leaders exempted the NRA from the DISCLOSE Act because that was the only way to pass the bill. In other words, the NRA could have killed the bill if it had wanted to do so. THAT'S POWER!
The NRA has this power because it has already executed the most important part of the Downsize DC strategy. The NRA has 4 million members -- a HUGE ARMY! -- and the huge financial resources that such an army provides.
The AARP is another example -- they too have a huge army and vast financial resources that they use to protect entitlements for seniors. Please notice that guns and senior entitlements are both currently untouchable in this country, because both have huge armies and vast financial resources to protect them. Please also notice that guns and senior entitlements have protection from members of both parties, Republicans and Democrats. This too is proof of something we have constantly told you...
Political parties and personalities do NOT matter very much. What really matters are armies and money. If you have those, then the candidates and the parties will follow. This is so important that it bears repeating. Please pay attention to this...
If you have an army and money then the candidates and the political parties will follow your lead
But if you do not have an army and money then candidates and parties will betray you... no matter how much they may claim to be on your side!
It really is that simple. Now here's the clincher -- the example of the NRA and guns is also proof of something else we have repeatedly told you...
Freedom doesn't always lose
Freedom can and does prevail when it has an army and money behind it
A huge army is what protects the Second Amendment from the politicians, NOT the fact that the "right" people have been elected to office. I promise you...
there are scores of politicians on Capitol Hill who want to pass gun control laws
and plenty of supposedly pro-gun members of Congress who would readily betray the Second Amendment for the right price
but none of these politicians will act on their impulses, because they're afraid of the backlash
Here's the bottom line...
Freedom can and does prevail whenever it has a huge army and vast financial resources to defend it
We lost the DISCLOSE vote in the House because we don't yet have a huge army and vast financial resources
So there IS a point to continuing the fight, but only if you are fighting in the correct way
Electing a majority of the "right" people is THE END of the process, NOT the starting point.
A huge army is what protects the Second Amendment from the politicians, NOT the fact that it's "right."
So what's the starting point? Please take note of the fact that the NRA and the AARP are both single issue organizations. This fact made it easier for them to recruit their armies. But what really needs to be done is far more complicated. YOU NEED A HUGE ARMY and vast financial resources TO DEFEND liberty on ALL ISSUES at ALL TIMES.
Here's why...
You can see what happens otherwise. The NRA will fight for the Second Amendment, but might surrender on the First. And a group like the ACLU will fight for the First Amendment, but not the Second. These big single issue armies make it easier for the politicians to divide and conquer, as they are doing with the DISCLOSE Act. But...
No one has yet figured out how to recruit a huge army to defend liberty and limited government, taken as a whole. Part of the problem, in our view, is that most attempts to do this have aimed at somehow electing the right people. This, to us, makes the problem harder rather than easier...
Not only do you have multiple issues that could serve as deal breakers, but you also have to get people to agree about partisan labels and the personalities of the candidates.
Plus, electing one good person isn't enough -- you have to elect a majority!
And then you still have to exert pressure on the people you elected to get them to do what you elected them to do!
Oh, and when the campaign ends, then what? Do you start all over?
Our view has been that, if it's possible to skip to number 3 -- and the NRA and AARP prove that it is -- then why not just focus on it, and skip all the fuss and bother of those other steps?
The logic of this now seems inescapable to us, but we are left in the ironic position that our brilliant strategy cannot work until we can convince others that it can work. This has been our biggest obstacle to growth.
What can overcome it? We think it will take...
Time
Persistence
Constantly repeating our strategic arguments
The on-going failure of the old approach
Creating new tools to make what we're doing more attractive to more people And so that's where we are. Are you still with us? We need your on-going help!
We've reached the final stretch of our project to unify all of our various databases. This is a boring but essential task that must be done before we can give you new software tools to MAKE YOU MORE POWERFUL, and DownsizeDC.org, more effective. In addition...
July is a month with three staff payrolls, and our cash reserves are running low. What that means, basically, is that we're at a crossroads, where discouragement has meant a deficit in dollars. You can rest assured, our opponents aren't slowing down. We have several battles left to fight, still this year.
Our strategy can NOT progress, and the new tools cannot be built, without monthly pledgers. We need to add at least 30 new pledgers in July. Can you be one of those new pledgers? <http://www.downsizedc.org/contribute/>
And we can NOT pay July's extra bills, without generous one-time contributors. Frankly, we need at least two DC Downsizers giving $1,000, or four donating $500, this month, on top of at least 50 investing various other amounts. Can you be one of those generous supporters <http://www.downsizedc.org/contribute/>?
Please stand with me, and let's build an army.
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
P.S. I will be on Straight Talk, w/ Jerry Hughes today, with guest host Scott Allen, and will, most likely, be discussing this strategy further. My hour-long appearance starts at 3:06 PM Eastern, and can be heard, live, online, on the Accent Radio Network.
If you have questions, I'd love to hear from you. The toll-free, call-in number is: 866-222-2368 -or- 866-2-ACCENT
|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|
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. http://www.DownsizeDC.org & Downsize DC Foundation http://www.DownsizeDC.com
SUPPORT the "Educate the Powerful System" at http://www.downsizedc.org/contribute/
Feel free to forward or reprint, as long as attribution and action links are retained/included. But we recommend you delete everything in this footer, i.e., below the words "Downsizer-Dispatch."
Operations office: 1931 15th St. Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223, 202.521.1200.
Normally published 3-6 times per week. The Downsize DC Team would like to thank you for subscribing to the Downsizer-Dispatch, which you did by going to http://www.downsizedc.org/newsletter or by using our "Educate the Powerful System" to send a message.
