"That which is falling must also be pushed."

-- Friederich Nietzsche

Subject: Is ethanol running out of gas?

Opposition to mandates and subsidies for mass-produced ethanol isn't just nationwide -- it's worldwide. That creates a good environment for legislative victory. But just because the climate is ripe for repeal, doesn't mean it will happen.

It's the central problem we face . . .

* Government favors are concentrated on those who receive them, but . . .

* The cost of those favors are dispersed among all taxpayers, so . . .

* Those who receive the favors have a huge incentive to defend them, while . . .

* Those who pay for the handouts have almost no incentive to fight them.

We aim to solve this problem by . . .

* Using reforms such as the "Read the Bills Act" and the "One Subject at a Time Act" to raise the price legislators pay to create new favors   

* Lowering the cost taxpayers pay to fight government handouts One way to lower the cost you pay to fight government handouts is through our online system. Our system enables you to pressure your Representative and your two Senators with just a few mouse-clicks and strokes of your computer keyboard. What could be easier?

But even that which is easy still requires a decision to act. The whole world may agree that ethanol subsidies are bad, but that means nothing unless people take action to tell Congress to repeal them.

Subsidized, mandated, mass-produced ethanol seems to be running out of gas, but that is only significant if Congress actually feels sufficient heat to do something about it. That which is falling must also be pushed.

Now is a good time to push. Congress is having trouble passing the latest big agriculture give-away bill. This gridlock provides time for an amendment to roll back the ethanol subsidies. Some group of enterprising legislators might be moved to offer such an amendment, if pushed.

Push. Send Congress a message.

And while you're at it, you might use your personal comments to tell them you dislike all the subsidies in the current farm bill.

Public opposition to business subsidies is growing across the board, not just on the ethanol issue. That's one reason Congress is having trouble passing this bill. We plan to campaign against the annual agriculture bill soon. In the meantime, you could use our ethanol campaign and your personal comments to fire your first shot against these bloated handout programs.

Send your message here.

Finally, there's one other way we lower the cost you pay to oppose government handouts. At DownsizeDC.org, Inc., we run a lean and mean operation, spending less in a year that most organizations spend in a month. We also do cost-efficient fundraising, mostly using just one short paragraph at the end of these messages to pay our way.

We humbly assert that your bang for the buck is maximized with Downsize DC, especially if . . .

* You start a monthly credit card pledge, which can run as low as a few cents per day -- say $3, $5, $10, $15, $20, or $25 per month.

* You can give $100 or more, because DC Downsizer James Marquart has pledged $1,000 if we can obtain ten, $100 or more donors here in May. That means your contribution can be "double value," if you can be one of those ten supporters! Your contribution is our budget. Your investment is our expansion. You can contribute here.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Jim Babka

President

DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

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