Downsize DC — Being Silenced?
Downsize DC is a non-partisan group working to stop the expansion of the federal government. Their main tactic is to blitz Congress with e-mails, urging them to vote yes or no on certain bills.
Now, at least one senator has responded by blocking all correspondence from the ISP of Downsize DC. The group hasn’t yet named the cowering invertebrate, which is just as well (they will soon enough). Since Downsize DC is non-partisan, little Boo Radley could be a member of either party.
Next Monday the group will bombard Senator Hide-Under-A-Rock with phone calls. These phone calls will hopefully change the Senator’s mind, and the publicity should demonstrate to other would-be cowards that they can run but they can’t hide. They’re supposed to represent all of us, not just their wealthiest donors. Sometimes they need to be reminded of this.
Downsize DC has campaigned heavily against the Snitch On Your Neighbor Act, introduced by Senator James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin). If passed, this law will provide up to ten years in prison for anyone who knows about illegal drug use and fails to report it to the police.
Another one of their major projects is the Read The Bills Act, which would require lawmakers to actually read the entire bill before they vote on it (what a radical concept).
Their most recent campaign is against the authorization of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Whatever you think of free trade, this bill has a provision that will allow the pharmaceutical companies — working with the World Trade Organization — to start banning vitamin supplements. So far the bill hasn’t been brought to a vote because the “leadership” is afraid it doesn’t have enough votes.
Downsize DC was formed after the passage of Bush’s Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, toward the end of his first term. The organization was inspired by the $500 billion cost of the bill, plus the sleazoid tactics used. The vote lasted more than three hours while Tom DeLay went around threatening and intimidating all the “no” voters. Finally after more than three hours the Plan had barely enough votes. And Downsize DC was created.
Check them out. You probably won’t agree with them on everything unless you’re a Libertarian, but they’re working on some very important issues. And senators — whose salaries come from your tax dollars — should not be able to shut them out.
posted by Tom Harper @ 9:02 PM
10 Comments:
I wonder who the Senator is. Probably Frist.
It doesn't surprise me that Sensenbrenner would bring up an issue like that. That man is the next McCarthy.
I am a social libertarian. I think most liberals are. I am concered about the expansion of the government as well. That is why I watch the government so closely.
Samantha: Frist -- yeah, I wouldn’t doubt it. I guess we’ll find out next Monday.
Sensenbrenner is a total sack of shit. He should be impeached for just introducing a Fascist bill like that.
Downsize DC does some great work. With the neocons trying to turn us into the Fourth Reich, we need groups like this.
Denying your critics any kind of a voice is all the rage these days, as El Shrubbo showed us during his taxpayer-funded Social Security "town hall" gatherings.
POS: Thanks. Hope you’ll keep stopping by.
Jolly Roger: That seems to be the case. I guess if you don’t have a 6-figure campaign contribution for them, they don’t want to talk to you. And yet it’s our taxes that pay their salaries (and pay for those “spontaneous” rallies that are invitation-only and scripted to the hilt).
Leave it to someone like Makes-No-Sense-nbrenner... the man really ought to read about some of the ways the Soviet government treated its citizens. If he had a clue, he would see connections between the old USSR and the kind of thing he is proposing. Sheesh!!
I am glad people are talking about Sensenbrenner, he started real id, helped the patriot act, and now this. He is probably the worst member of congress and anyone who supports this idea of turning in your friends, family, and neighbors should be voted out also. The government spends millions if not billions of dollars to send police and counselers to schools and tell children how easy it is to turn people in. If someone takes drugs it is not my problem as I once told a government worker, I said "They are hurting no one." He said they were "Hurting themselves" but I pointed out I didn't force them to take drugs. Great post, and I support Downsize DC
Sensenbrenner is channeling a Wisconsin member of the United States Senate. A member from a few years back, of course.
I really loved my time in Superior. Is there a Wisconsin I should be glad I( never saw? Where are these Nazis coming from?
Snave: Makes-No-Sense-nbrenner really is clueless. I can’t believe he doesn’t see the parallels between his bills and the Soviet Union, or even Nazi Germany -- those Hitler Youth members who were encouraged to turn in their own parents.
Jake: Yeah, Sensenbrenner is a piece of work all right. The Patriot Act, Real ID, and now this. This War on Drugs is completely pointless. We’ve spent billions just to ruin people’s lives and drain the treasury. Downsize DC is doing some good work. I hope their membership keeps growing.
Anonymous: Yeah, it makes you wonder if Joe McCarthy ever died, or if he just changed his name and got a facelift and ran for Congress again.
I think maybe "Schiesenbrenner" sounds best, kind of like Rick Sphinctorum.
Yeah, I like Scheissenbrenner (and Sphinctorum). In an earlier post I called him Essen Scheisse Sensenbrenner.
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