Downsize DC Foundation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Downsize DC (formerly known as the American Liberty Foundation) is a non-partisan organization which aims to limit the size of government in the United States through awareness and petitioning government. It was founded by two-time Libertarian presidential candidate Harry Browne, his former campaign staff members Perry Willis and Jim Babka, and former National Chair of the Libertarian Party Steve Dasbach. It is split into two organizations, the Downsize DC Foundation and DownsizeDC.org, for tax purposes.
The President of Downsize DC is Jim Babka. Harry Browne served for over a year as the Director of Public Policy. The Chair of DownsizeDC.org is Gary Nolan. Mark Cenci and David Page both also serve on the Board of Directors.
The chair of the Downsize DC Foundation is Jack Mullen. Along with Jim Babka, Laura Carno, John McAlister, and David Ruprecht also serve on the Downsize DC Foundation Board of Directors.
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[edit] Action
Downsize DC.org is currently focusing on a number of bills before Congress, as well as promoting one that it drafted, called the Read the Bills Act. This bill, if passed, would effectively ensure that:
- Congress must read every bill before they vote on it
- Congress must wait at least 7 days to vote on a bill after they have read it
- Congress must give the public 7 days' notice of when a vote will be held, and post each bill on the Internet for public review 7 days before the vote
[edit] History
[edit] DownsizeDC.org has supported:
- The Parental Consent Act of 2005, H.R. 181[1], February 1, 2005
- The First Amendment Restoration Act, H.R. 689[2], H.R.46[3], February 15, 2005
- The Online Freedom of Speech Act, H.R. 1605[4], H.R. 1606[5], S. 678[6], April 18, 2005
- The Read The Bills Act of 2005, May 22, 2005
- The Protection of Homes, Small Businesses, and Private Property Act of 2005, S. 1313[7], H.R.3083[8], H.R.3087[9], July 18, 2005, with the addition of an amendment written by DownsizeDC.org
- A proposal to bring the National Guard home so that they can be used in cases of emergency, such as the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe, September 5, 2005
- An initiative to end federal flood insurance, September 13, 2005
- An initiative to get President Bush to use his powers of Veto & Rescission to cut runaway federal spending and pork, October 18, 2005
- The Health Freedom Protection Act, H.R. 4282[10], February 28, 2006
- The Sunshine in Monetary Policy Act, H.R. 4892[11], March 20, 2006
[edit] DownsizeDC.org has opposed:
- The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004, H.R. 3717[12], H.R. 554[13], and S. 2056[14]
- The REAL ID Act of 2005, H.R. 418[15] and H.R. 1268[16]
- Legislation conceptualized by Sen. Ted Stevens to censor cable television, May 9, 2005
- The Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005, H.R. 1528[17], May 31, 2005
- The USAPATRIOT Act expansion proposed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, H.R. 3199[18], S. 1389[19], June 13, 2005
- The Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (also known as CAFTA), S. 1307[20], H.R. 3045[21], July 10, 2005
- Bush's $200 billion plan for Gulf Coast reconstruction, September 19, 2005
- Three bills (the Lobbying and Ethics Reform Act of 2005, S. 1398[22]; the Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act of 2005, S. 2128[23], H.R. 4575[24], H.R. 4667[25], H.R. 4975[26]; and the Special Interest Lobbying and Ethics Accountability Act of 2005, H.R. 2412[27]) designed to regulate grassroots lobbying organizations, January 22, 2006
- The "misnamed" Let the People Decide Clean Campaign Act, H.R. 4694[28], a bill supposedly designed to maintain incumbency protection, March 7, 2006
- Senator Bill Frist's combination of the Online Freedom of Speech Act (a bill DownsizeDC.org supports) with the Lobbying Reform Act (a bill designed to regulate grassroots citizen lobbying groups), March 12, 2006
[edit] External links
[edit] Archived sites
These pages were previously associated with Jim Babka or Downsize DC, but have since been archived.
