About Us

Our Mission

The best way to judge where we stand is to check out the issues on our Campaigns Page and subscribe to our FREE email newsletter, the Downsizer-Dispatch. We also recommend you read our blog. However, the great thing about DownsizeDC.org is that it isn't tied to a partisan cause and you can work with us where you agree and opt-out of participation when you disagree.

But if you're still looking for a quick summary of what DownsizeDC.org is about:

We believe the federal government has grown too centralized, too intrusive, and too expensive. We believe in constitutional limits, smaller government, civil liberties, federalism, and low taxes. We want to end laws and programs that don't work, cause harm, and violate the Constitution. We want to restore the full force of the 9th and 10th amendments, which reserve most social functions to the people and the states.

Our Team

Board of Directors: Gary Nolan (Chair - Missouri), Jim Babka (Ohio), Mark Cenci (Maine), David Page (Maryland), and Kent White (Florida)

Corporate Officers: Jim Babka, President; Robert Olson, Secretary; Linda Slack, Treasurer

Full-time Staff: Jim Babka, President; Perry Willis, Communications Director

Part-time Team Members: Robert O'Gwynn, Programmer; Malorie Duff, Office Manager; James Wilson, Assistant to the President; Andrew Bourdon, Technical Support; Lou Eastman, Webmaster

Exactly how do we plan to Downsize DC?

Downsize DC Vision: A 16-page, special report (in pdf format) that explains the Downsize DC Vision in detail, what we intend to accomplish, and our unique, cutting-edge strategy for achieving our goals.

Your Questions

These important documents may answer your questions . . .

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Disclaimer

Additional Questions

• Technical and Site Usage FAQ
• Downsize DC Philosophy and Strategy FAQ

Technical and Site Usage FAQ

If you're having difficulty, we're ready to help. Send a message to clearly explaining your issue.

1) How do I unsubscribe from your Downsizer-Dispatch email list?

At the bottom of each Dispatch, in the section we call the footer, you'll find the address at which we delivered the Dispatch. You'll also find a link that you can click to be automatically unsubscribed. First, confirm that the message was intended to you. Sometimes, friends forward the message and you wouldn't want to unsubscribe your friend. Simply let them know you don't find this information of value. Next, if you were the actual subscriber, click the link and follow the instructions.

If it's not working like you expected, we want to help — even if that means you'll be leaving us. Send a message with a request to unsubscribe to .

Additional questions to come after we have more experience with our new site.

Downsize DC Philosophy and Strategy FAQ

Below are some answers to common questions on the Downsize DC approach. If you're having a technical issue, please consult our Technical and Site Usage FAQ above.

1) This is great. You should get on the (fill-in-the-blank) show.

Thanks for your support and interest. We get lots of messages like this and our still small staff just doesn't have the ability to pursue all of these leads. We wish we could.

But we supply someone to do the interviews we're called upon to do and we pursue a media figure that's taken the time to call or write, even if we must play an extended game of phone tag.

It really is best if the hosts and producers, reporters and editors, hear from listeners and readers. Do you know someone in the media who might be interested in the activities of DownsizeDC.org? Learn how you can help us get that interview.

Talk radio hosts are more likely to be receptive and respectful if they know listeners care about the idea. They are far easier to persuade because they have time to fill (in the business they call it, “a monster to feed”) and they can be successfully “inundated” with even fewer messages than a Congressman can. And our Read the Bills Act, in particular, is great talk radio “fodder.”

2) When you say you believe in Constitutional limits, what do you mean?

The Constitution is a decentralizing and downsizing document. It devolves and restricts federal government power. For example, by our reading, there are only 20 things the Congress is permitted to do under the Constitution. Here's the list.

If the issue before Congress is not on the list, they shouldn't be legislating on it. The Ninth and Tenth Amendments reserve all other powers to the various states and to individuals.

3) Sending postal mail letters is more effective than sending throw-away emails at DownsizeDC.org. After all, Congress treats email like spam.

First, most of the time, our proprietary “Educate the Powerful System” (EPS) is not sending an email on your behalf. Usually, our system fills out the web forms located at the Congressperson's website. That gives these messages a more personalized feel — even increases the odds that they will be read.

Second, an “old-fashioned” letter to Congress truly is “snailmail.” It takes three weeks, minimum, to get delivered, ever since the anthrax scares. Napoleon was able to get away with waiting that long to read his correspondence, but I doubt you want to wait that long to communicate with your Congressman, particularly if the vote is first thing next week.

The best approach? Write the message using EPS. Then, take an insurance step and mail it — but only if the issue isn't coming up for a vote in the next week or so. Even better: Send a message using the EPS, and then call. The office phone number and address are listed on the Send a Message page of each campaign, once you're logged-in.

Finally, let's compare output. For every snailmail letter we might be able to generate, we can probably generate 10 or 20 messages using EPS. Now, which do you think is more convincing, regardless of eloquence, one old-fashioned letter or 10-20 electronic messages delivered, individually, through the Congressman's web form?

Viva DownsizeDC.org!

4) Why do you require registration? It's hurting you. My friends didn't want to register.

Well, there are three convenience issues — reasons you and your friends should love registration!

1. The Educate the Powerful System (EPS) cannot determine who your Senators and Representatives are without registering.
2. With the address and phone number on the personalized message, Congressional offices take the message more seriously. They KNOW they're hearing from a constituent, and are more likely to:
       a) count the message, and
       b) respond to it.
3. Registration makes it possible for the individual to have an “account” — meaning the next time they visit the site they won't have to register, saving them time.

But there's some very important, long-term, strategic reasoning behind this requirement as well.

Politicians are not leaders; they are merely opportunists, looking for a parade they can march in front of . . .

4) At Downsize DC we're building a parade for smaller, decentralized government.

We're committed to avoiding “random acts of liberty.” We have a primary goal in front of us — MORE DC Downsizers.

Everything we do. Everything we're striving to achieve has, in our humble observation, suffered from a lack of three things:

• Money
• Aptitude
• Manpower

We don't have enough money. We don't have enough manpower, and the manpower we do have is frequently not proficient nor do they have the time to give full-time dedication to the cause. Quite simply, we're outgunned by the major political parties and the special interests.

More DC Downsizers would give us more manpower. More DC Downsizers would give us more talent. More DC Downsizers would give us greater funding.

More DC Downsizers is the key! In fact, we can think of nothing more imperative.

Everything we do . . . should be about more DC Downsizers. When we fight a bad law, the most important objective should be to emerge from the fight bigger than we were before we entered it. To do less, would be a random act of liberty. Here today; maybe even fun. But gone tomorrow.

First and foremost, the goal should be in front of us — more DC Downsizers will lead to greater success, faster. And once that dream comes true, we can implement phase two.

In fact, we've already begun phase two. We call it Operation Everywhere.

The concept of Operation Everywhere is remarkably simple and easy to define: everyone, everywhere, every day is confronted by DC Downsizer ideas.

Imagine a world where Operation Everywhere was a reality.

• When people turn on the TV, they get exposed to a serious, respectful discussion of DC Downsizer ideas
• When they flip on the radio, they hear about DC Downsizer concepts
• When they open the newspaper, they read the DC Downsizer perspective
• On billboards, bumper stickers, all over the Internet, and in conversation with others, they keep coming across our ideas

Does this sound crazy? Impossible?

It shouldn't. The Democrats do it. So also do the Republicans. There are even specific causes that are nearly ubiquitous — like environmentalism and opposition to racism. Why can't Downsizing DC be the same way? We believe it can.

So we ask, why are you, or your friends, concerned about signing up? If anyone is concerned about privacy, they should check our Privacy Policy. Then, sign up and join our parade!

5) You're really Republicans (Democrats, Libertarians, etc.), right?

We're legally a non-partisan organization. But temperamentally, we're anti-partisan. We can say with complete candor and bluntness. We've got no dog in the electoral fight — particularly a yellow dog.

We're steadfastly avoiding partisanship and personalities. Instead, we're sticking with principles. The reason?

Once you get committed to a person or a party, you lose potential supporters who don't support that person. Eventually you become beholden to that person or their party because all of your supporters support them. Before long, you lose your objectivity — even your principles. Then one day, you find yourself on Hardball shilling for something you oppose in your heart and would be railing against if the other “team” was doing it. You've become a big player in town, but you've lost your soul and your effectiveness.

We don't want to sell DownsizeDC.org's soul.

6) How is DownsizeDC.org funded?

Contributions to DownsizeDC.org are NOT tax-deductible, even though DownsizeDC.org is a 501(c)(4) non-profit, public education, organization.

Downsize DC accepts no government funding. We are funded entirely through the generosity of private donors. Larger and smaller one-time donors, plus monthly pledges, account for nearly all of our income.

DownsizeDC.org shares office facilities and staff with the Downsize DC Foundation.

Our budget is modest. To maintain our operations, our annual budget is smaller than many organizations' monthly budget (our $15,500 per month as of August, 2008).

As you can see, we're lean and aggressive. Most funds raised above and beyond our budget need are used for publicity and recruitment, including direct marketing, media outreach, and advertising.

As a general policy, we do not answer specific questions about our finances. For more information about our budget, we seriously recommend you become a subscriber to the Downsizer-Dispatch and read our blog. We're quite open about our budget need and progress, and we constantly demonstrate what we're accomplishing.

© 2008 DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

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1931 15th St.
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 44223
(202) 521-1200