Today's Downsizer Dispatch . . . Please share with concerned friends . . . Subject: Grassroots regulations DEFEATED! We just won another one in Congress. Proposed regulations for grassroots groups like Downsize DC have been strangled in their crib. First we won in the Senate. Now we've won in the House! The House Judiciary Committee rejected the grassroots regulations yesterday by a voice vote. This means that grassroots regulations will NOT be a part of the lobbying reform bill that goes to the full House for a vote. Committee Chairman John Conyers told the press that the grassroots provisions were rejected because they violate the First Amendment. Please, don't faint. I know it comes as a shock to have politicians pay attention to Constitutional limits, but it CAN HAPPEN ON MANY MORE ISSUES if enough pressure is brought to bear. We won this fight because we had a BIG ARMY exerting BIG PRESSURE. We were a very small army when this fight began. The initial coalition was just a few small groups, but as time passed more and larger organizations joined the coalition. That's where our Big Army came from. We finally ended up with the ACLU and the National Right to Life Committee fighting on the same side with each other, and with us. Eventually the ACLU even took over the day-to-day leadership of the coalition. DC Downsizers also played a key role, bombarding Congress with 33,921 messages on this issue, and countless phone calls. Are we really out of the woods on this one? Only one danger remains. Congressman Meehan, the architect of these grassroots regulations and of so much else that is wrong with the electoral process, may still try to slip his poison into the bill in Conference Committee. But . . . We don't expect that to work, and Congressman Meehan is leaving office on July 1. We will remain vigilant until this last small danger has completely passed. Meanwhile . . . Let's bask in this latest victory, and recognize that it is another proof of the Downsize DC Concept. A Big Army exerting Big Pressure on Congress is THE WAY to get what we want. Sometimes we will be able to gather the forces we need by joining with other groups, but wouldn't it be ideal if Downsize DC had enough troops all by itself to win these kinds of victories on really important issues like "Read the Bills" and "One Subject at a Time?" The key to achieving this is to have the funding to do the outreach to recruit our Big Army. This funding can come from only one place. YOU. Please reward the success of our strategy, and make an investment in future victories. Please start a monthly credit card pledge or make a one time contribution so that we can go further faster, and earn more and more victories. You can do so HERE. Thank you for being a DC Downsizer. Perry Willis Communications Director DownsizeDC.org, Inc. PS: Please plan on tuning into Jim Babka's radio show on Sunday. He will be discussing the issues at stake in the recent dust-up between Congressman Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani.