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You'll truly appreciate this big news if you have the larger context.
Let's very quickly consider four questions that have short yet incredible answers.
Question #1:
Do you have to win elections to get legislation introduced in Congress?
The answer is a resounding no! Downsize DC has gotten three pieces of legislation introduced in Congress multiple times, and we've never elected anyone! And now...
We've just done it again!
Question #2:
Do you need to make big campaign contributions in order to influence politicians to do what you want?
The answer is also a resounding no! We've gotten multiple politicians to introduce or co-sponsor our bills without ever making a single campaign contribution. And we just did it again.
Question #3:
Does it take a lot of pressure to get a member of Congress to introduce or sponsor a good bill?
Once again, the answer is no. Some of our results have been achieved with as little as one face-to-face contact. I'm about to give you an example of that. I'll also tell you how that one meeting continues to pay dividends to this day!
Question #4:
Are there any bills that would benefit you that a majority in Congress would also like?
Yes, the OSTA (One Subject at a Time Act) is that bill. OSTA would make congressional leaders less powerful, while making rank-and-file members more powerful. Most members of Congress are not in the leadership and would probably support this bill if only they were asked in the correct way.
The recent fight over electing a new Speaker of the House clearly demonstrates this. The principles underlying OSTA (and our Read the Bills Act) were a major bone of contention. New rules that move in the direction of OSTA were a major part of the agreement that finally allowed Kevin McCarthy to be elected!
Best of all, we played a big part in this outcome!
Now here comes the BIG NEWS!
Senator Rand Paul is re-introducing our One Subject at a Time Act in the Senate!
This came about, mostly, because of a face-to-face meeting I had with the Senator during his first campaign.
He has been a devoted sponsor of this legislation ever since. And his office is working with us to promote this re-introduction!
It may seem like no big deal to get someone like Rand Paul to support such legislation, but we've also had similar experiences in the House. It has sometimes taken just one meeting or one phone call to get one of our bills introduced or re-introduced.
We need to take things to a new level!
We simply have to have more people asking their reps to sponsor these bills. The big missing ingredient is money. We achieved this success on a shoe-string budget. But recent requests for funding – so we can reach and attract more people to demand ever-increasing levels of sponsorship – have received little response.
The very best way to help is actually quite easy. Start a monthly credit card pledge of any amount. It all adds up, whether it's $3 or the highest monthly pledge we receive, which is $500. Indeed, we have six wonderful people who contribute $50 per month, and the average pledge is around $15.
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