Quote of the Day: "Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of government. The history of liberty is the history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it." -- Woodrow Wilson

Editorial comment: He didn't practice what he preached, but we should

Subject: Stunning poll results

The politicians and pundits keep telling us the Era of Big Government has returned. For instance, the Washington Post claims that increased confidence in government is fostering economic recovery.

But what happens when Americans are given a real choice to accept or reject government growth? California just had that chance when they voted on several Big Government propositions. The results are stunning...

• Prop 1A would have created a so-called "Rainy Day" fund. The voters slammed it down 65.8% to 34.2%.
• Prop 1B would have spent $9.3 billion from this "Rainy Day" fund NOT on some future rainy day, but immediately, on schools. The voters slammed it down 62.5% to 37.5%.
• Prop 1C would have increased state government funding through the lottery, but voters didn't want the government to have more money. They slammed down this one too, 64.6% to 35.4%.

There were only two propositions that could possibly be interpreted as deviations from these results . .

• Prop 1D would have shifted money away from child services to balance the budget, but voters rejected this 65.7% to 34.3%
• Prop 1E would have done something similar, shifting money from mental health services to reduce the state deficit, but voters rejected this one too, 66.4% to 33.6%

Now it could be that a majority of Californians value these services more than they do a balanced budget, but all of these propositions were crafted by politicians, so it could also be that voters prefer the status quo to the dangers of allowing politicians to make any NEW decisions. After all...

Prop 1F prevents pay raises for legislators and statewide officeholders in deficit years, and it passed by a whopping 73.9% to 26.1%.

Could it be that California taxpayers want politicians to balance the budget NOT by shifting money around, but by CUTTING spending overall?

Now here's what we find most interesting. California politicians, including Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, put on a full-court-press to pass these Big Government propositions. Their arguments were heard by everyone, everywhere, every day. But the Big Government position lost, across the board, by huge margins. Not only that...

The Big Government proposals lost in every single county, while the one small government proposition won in every county. You may find it fun to look at the sea of red for the defeated proposals and the sea of green for the victorious small government measure.

So cheer up. The politicians and pundits may think the Era of Big Government has returned, but the people are moving in the other direction.

Let's keep pushing. We only have 4 work days left in May. That means we need to slam Congress with 1,289 messages in response to today's Dispatch to exceed the 31,730 messages we sent last month. Please help us achieve this goal. Here's our Big Government target for today...

The House Energy and Commerce Committee just voted in favor of H.R. 2454, a bill designed to control carbon emissions through a "cap and trade" system. This bill is a classic example of why politicians shouldn't be trusted to construct complicated plans. "Cap and trade" is supposed to empower the market to figure out the best way to reduce carbon emission, but . . .

H.R. 2454 is full of mandates for HOW firms must cap emissions!

This directly contradicts the supposed market orientation of the "cap and trade" idea. Please use DownsizeDC.org's "cap and trade" campaign to instruct your Congressional employees to oppose all complicated "cap and trade" schemes.

Use your personal comments to...

• Specifically object to H.R. 2454
• Point out that this bill contains mandates that contradict the whole idea behind "cap and trade"

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army. To see how much we're growing please check out the Keeping Score report below my signature.

Jim Babka, President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Keeping Score

Things were slow over the holiday weekend. We grew by just 5 net new members, which brings us to 1,024 net new members for the year, and a Downsize DC Army that now stands at 25,373 -- 37% of the way to 26,000!

YOU can make the army grow even faster by following our quick and easy instructions for personalized recruiting.

We can also grow faster by doing more outreach to potential DC Downsizers. If you can start a monthly credit card pledge to expand our outreach please tell us on the secure contribution form if its okay to publish your name here . . .

NEW MONTHLY PLEDGERS IN MAY: David Jones, Barbara Baxter, Nancy Kovar, Ryan Ackroyd, WM Michael O'Brien, John C Houghton, James Alan Speedie, THREE unlisted

Or, if you'd prefer to make a one-time donation, please let us know if its okay to publish your name here . . .

NEW ONE TIME DONORS IN MAY: Arlene Lindstrand, Dee Clary, Joan Garro, Jennifer Tarling, Richard Linchitz, Steven Palmer, Bruce N. Liddel, Ernest P. Eusea, Chris Reulman, David Anthony, Christopher T Wagner, Thomas Sartwelle, Jr, EIGHT unlisted