Three Vital Issues—Give 'em Hell
Use the Downsize DC system to flood Congress
with emails opposing horrendous laws
Stop the Food, Inc. Nazis!
Quote of the Day:
"Given sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine."
--
Woody Page, Denver sports columnist
S. 510 will make your food more expensive and less safe. It will
drive many small farms out of business. The leaders of the "lame duck"
Congress want to pass this falsely named "food safety" bill THIS WEEK,
but . . .
They'll need 60 votes to break Sen. Coburn's "hold" on the bill. That means we can defeat S.510 with just 40 votes, but we must apply
the pressure now!
Please send a letter right now telling your Senators to oppose S.
510.
You may borrow from or copy this letter:
BEGIN LETTER
S.510 will crush family farms and small businesses with excessive
regulations - even though they were NOT the source of recent food
safety problems.
S.510 also violates the Fourth Amendment by allowing the FDA to
invade and search farms and food producers without court permission.
If you think the FDA will use this new power responsibly, think
again. David Gumpert reports that the FDA shut down two raw-milk
cheese-makers for the presence of the pathogen listeria, even though .
. .
* Nobody got sick
*
The FDA almost never shuts down companies for the mere presence of
pathogens - even when people DO get sick
* Companies have previously been allowed to clean things up, rather
than shut down.
If the FDA is starting to behave like this now, just imagine how
abusive it will be under S.510?
Finally, it must be stressed that big agribusiness has been the
source of most recent food safety problems. S.510 will make this
problem worse by burdening small producers, and driving them out of
business. This will make our food supply more centralized, less
diverse, and more dangerous.
Please STOP S.510. This Congress must NOT pass any food safety bill.
Remember, the voters have repudiated this Congress, and it's heavy
handed ways.
END LETTER
Send your letter through DownsizeDC's Educate the Powerful
System.
Remember, Congress DOES read your letters. They DO have an impact.
The more letters they receive, the more we're likely to succeed.
So please forward this, share on your social networks, and retweet
this message. And thank you for being a DC Downsizer! — James Wilson, Asst. Comm. Director
Congress: Take a Longer Vacation
Quote of the Day:
"The American people's message was clear in the
2010 election -- they want the incoming Congress to make their laws.
The voters' wish should be respected." -- Pat Choate
"You're fired."
That's what the voters told Congress on November 2.
Do you want someone you've just fired to stay on the job and spend
more of your money?
That's exactly what Congress intends to do in the "lame duck session"
that begins today (11/15/2010).
Several of their bills will kill jobs and increase
the national debt.
We think our country would be better off if Congress just went home
for an extended vacation.
If you agree, please send a letter telling Congress to go home. Use
DownsizeDC.org's Cut Federal Spending campaign.
You may borrow from or copy this letter . . .
START LETTER
The November 2 election gave Congress a mandate to cut spending, and
to stop over-regulating the economy. And yet in the lame-duck session
. . .
The Senate will consider a fraudulently-named "food safety" bill,
an environmental bill, and a "paycheck fairness" bill - all of which
will be a nightmare for the economy.
This Congress was fired exactly because the people got tired of
fiscally reckless, job-killing bills like these. Haven't you done
enough damage to the country already?
If you won't work to cut spending during the lame-duck session, then
I insist that you . . .
Pass a continuing resolution to keep the government running for the
next few months
Extend the 2001 tax cuts that are about to expire
And then, go home for an extended vacation.
Most important, DO NOT PASS ANY MORE BILLS. I've had enough!
Quote of the Day:
"I leave symbolism to the symbol minded."
-- George
Carlin
Some people are calling for a Congressional pay cut as a symbolic
gesture.
The idea will be wildly popular, but I don't care for it.
The proposed pay cut isn't tied to performance, so it will do NOTHING
to change Congressional behavior.
A one-time pay cut won't, in any way, create an incentive for change.
It's just a token. If you read the story behind the link above you'll find that the word
"symbol" is used six times. The word "gesture" also appears. That's a
bad sign. Symbols are for suckers. Gestures are for losers.
The right way to manage Congressional pay is tie it to performance,
PERPETUALLY.
We must not respond to token populism, like eager lap-dogs settling
for table scraps. We must instead hold out for real reforms that
address the crucial problem of Congressional incentives.
That's the problem with The State. Politicians have too many
incentives to say "yes" to more spending, taxing and regulating. We
need to replace the incentives for "yes" with even more powerful
incentives leading to "no." This should be the principle . . .
If Congress runs a deficit, then, BY LAW, they take a pay cut, EVERY
term they do so. And that's why we made the Fiscal Responsibility Act
one of six bills that comprise our Downsize DC Agenda.
Please support this REAL REFORM. Here's a sample letter you can send
to your member of Congress . . .
START LETTER
I hear talk about a Congressional pay cut. I'm not fond of this idea
because it dismisses a genuine reform in favor of a one-time symbolic
act.
Tokens won't change anything.
Representatives Deal, Gingrey, Westmoreland, Linder, and Paul have
introduced a bill that isn't merely a gesture. They've tied
Congressional pay to performance.
After all, the problem isn't that you want us to like you -- it's
that you spend too much!
If Congress runs a deficit, it should see a pay cut. This shouldn't
happen just once. It shouldn't be a token. It should be the law.
Every term that you run a deficit, you and your colleagues should
have your pay cut. If you feel a deficit is good for the country, if
you support such "sacrifice," then I'm sure you'll be more than
willing to take the lead.
Leave symbolic one-time pay cuts to the symbol-minded. I demand
something more effective. Bring HR 4336 to the floor and vote for it.
