Downsize DC allows you to send messages to your representative in Washington D.C., on up coming bills. One bill now is the "Make Congress read every word of every bill they create before they vote on it." This bill would actually make your representatives read the "entire," bill out loud.
Some bills are 1000's of pages long, usually with other laws buried deep within the bill. This bill would actually make your lazy ass Representatives do their job for a change!
Other bills coming up for consideration are:
* Badger Congress to repeal the REAL ID Act
Congress thinks it can pass law-after-law violating your rights, because you will just forget about it. But Americans were not meant to carry national ID cards and internal passports and have all of their most personal information made available to the government. The 10th of each month is the anniversary of the passage of the REAL ID Act — the date on which the U.S. Senate imposed a national ID card on us. Do not forget about it. Hold a grudge about it. Send Congress a message demanding that the REAL ID Act be repealed.
* Stop the "Don't Let the People Decide" Act
Congress apparently likes irony. Why else would a bill that would narrow our choice of candidates in elections, be named the Let the People Decide Clean Campaign Act? This bill, H.R. 4694, would prohibit private donations to candidates to the House of Representatives, give a funding advantage to the incumbent over the major-party challenger, prohibit individuals from using their own money independently to support or criticize a candidate's views, and imposes absurdly small spending caps on most third party and independent campaigns. The laws we already have overwhelmingly favor incumbents and the two major parties who make government bigger year after year; this bill would put the nail in the coffin of all meaningful opposition. We must let everyone in Congress know that this is completely unacceptable to the American people.
* Stop FDA Censorship
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is threatening fines and legal action against cherry growers for publicizing peer-reviewed scientific studies about the health benefits of cherries. This is a violation of the First Amendment, a threat to public health, and a back-door attempt to benefit politically influential drug manufacturers at the expense of fruit growers. Fortunately, there is a bill in Congress that will stop the FDA from censoring scientific information that could save people's lives. We need to support this bill.
* Sacrifice the Pig
The current President hasn't vetoed a single bill. The last President who didn't veto anything was James Garfield. This means Congress has been able to spend with impunity. But the President also has another power he hasn't used; it's kind of like a line-item veto. It's the power of rescission. Clinton used this power to rescind $3.6 billion in spending. Bush the elder rescinded $2.3 billion.
* Just say no to the new “New Deal”
It is already being called President Bush's new “New Deal.” But the federal government's response to the disaster it created in New Orleans will be the same old deal. Waste, pork, and corporate welfare. Hundreds of billions of dollars that will enrich the politically influential, and do relatively little to restore the poor victims of the federally mismanaged New Orleans levees, and the federally mismanaged disaster relief effort. The federal government should simply pay its federal flood insurance obligations, and then get out of the way to let private insurance, private relief efforts, and state and local authorities fix what the federal government broke. We simply cannot afford any more debt, waste, corruption, and disaster from the federal government. To learn more about this issue, and to send a message to Congress opposing the new “New Deal”
* Stop government seizures of your property for private benefit
The Supreme Court's “Kelo” decision has re-written the Constitution and given governments at all levels the power to seize your personal property for the benefit of private interests. Legislation pending in Congress (S. 1313) seeks to limit this new governmental power. But S. 1313 has severe weaknesses — it lacks a statement of Constitutional authority and an enforcement mechanism. S. 1313 is toothless. DownsizeDC.org, Inc. has prepared an amendment to fix these problems. We urge you to urge Congress to pass S. 1313 with our amendment. To send your message to Congress for this purpose.
* The politicians want YOU — to be a snitch
HR 1528 has already passed through one committee, and appears likely to pass through another and come to the floor for a vote. This bill, if passed, will force you to inform on your neighbors if you have any knowledge of drug related activity. We're not making this up. First it was illegal to deal drugs, then use them, and then to be caught with them. Now, Congressman James Sensenbrenner wants to make it the law that if you do not inform on your neighbors you can be sentenced to prison! This kind of a system — neighbors informing on neighbors — was a key feature of past totalitarian regimes. Is this really what we want for America?
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