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Number 46

SAFE

Secure America's Future Economy

Summer 2007

NATIONAL TAXPAYERS CONFERENCE A BIG SUCCESS: SAFE DIRECTORS LEARN FROM OTHER ORGANIZATIONS: BILL WHIPPLE

The National Taxpayers Conference (every other year) took place in Washington, D.C. on June 14-16, 2007, with 400+ fiscal conservatives from 40 states in attendance. Steve McClain and I represented SAFE, and we found the program stimulating and informative.

The speakers and panelists were first rate, including three presidential candidates (Jim Gilmore of Virginia, Mike Gravel of Alaska, and Ron Paul of Texas). The focus was not on whether our country needs more limited government, everyone agreed it does, but how to get there. To that end, the conference offered “nuts and bolts” guidance on key tasks, from attracting members and fundraising, to getting our message out and overcoming the opposition.

Some of the techniques discussed would be out of character for SAFE, which is not a lobbying organization, but the ideas for enhanced communication were certainly applicable. Here are some key points:

· It is essential to keep up with technology. e-mail has largely replaced faxes at this point (there is still a place for letters and newsletters), and now blogs and video clips are beginning to supplant e-mail. I came away feeling that SAFE should consider a blog on its Website and will be looking into the matter.

· There were some useful tips on cultivating media contacts. Reporters tend to be stretched thin, and they appreciate leads and background work that will facilitate their jobs. Make them your friends and do as much for them as they will permit.

· Always remember that cutting edge techniques are no substitute for a credible, convincing and appealing message. Content was king when the most efficient form of communication was to stand on a soapbox in the town square and talk to whoever would listen. It still is!

Finally, what is it going to take to win? Forget a 90-day campaign to change America, such a vision is totally impractical and can only lead to disillusionment. The problems of an unwieldy, relentlessly invasive government that is in a deep financial hole took years to develop, and it will take years of dedicated effort to start turning things around. That being said, we left the conference feeling that SAFE is not a voice in the wilderness – there are some very fine people in other organizations, big and small, who share our values and vision and are working like us to make them a reality. Together, we can make a difference!

One participant in our 2006 membership survey suggested a letter about SAFE that members could download and share (in hard copy or electronically) with family and friends to help recruit new members. In response, we have started a “Downloads” section of the Website (s-a-f-e.org) with several items that seem well suited (entertaining as well as educational) for this purpose.

The items posted thus far: (a) Maurice McTigue audiotape on cutting spending, an inspiring success story that would be great for one’s iPod or car radio; (b) slideshow on why government spending must be cut and how to get the point across; (c) Heritage Foundation proposal for “a SAFE commission” (we have thanked Heritage and expressed our interest in supporting this idea); and (d) a tabular comparison of the coming fiscal meltdown (a real problem) with global warming (who knows).

If you like these items, please pass them on. Also, let Bill Whipple (ww3@delanet.com) know of additional downloads that might be helpful.

For those who like good old fashioned hard copy, we’ll be happy to send a copy of McTigue’s talk at Hillsdale College, “Rolling Back Government: Lessons from New Zealand”. Just ask and we’ll mail it.

When SAFE adopted its new name last year, “Secure America’s Future Economy,” it was not anticipated that others would pick up the refrain. There are now signs, however, that this may be happening.

In January 2007, Rep. Frank Wolf (Virginia) and Sen. George Voinovich (Ohio) introduced the “Securing America’s Future Economy (SAFE) Commission Act” in both houses of Congress. Under this legislation, a bipartisan commission would review our country’s tax and entitlement systems and present “long-term solutions to place the United States on a fiscally sustainable course and ensure the solvency of entitlement programs for future generations,”

The Heritage Foundation, among others, has endorsed the SAFE Commission proposal. In the Heritage commentary (available as a download on the SAFE website), President Ed Fuelner points out several inherent advantages.

First, the SAFE Commission would simultaneously review all three of the major entitlement programs: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. “If we attempt to reform just one of the big programs [think about the fate of Social Security reform proposals in 2005], some group will always fight for the status quo.”

Second, the Commission would conduct twelve town hall meetings around the country over the course of a year, which “should help it to avoid the temptation to hatch some scheme behind closed committee-room doors” and expose it to the “real desire out there to fix entitlement programs.”

Third, once the Commission reported, Congress would be required to hold an up-or-down vote on each of its recommendations. This “would help lawmakers make necessary changes without being accused of ‘destroying’ entitlement programs.”

The SAFE Commission proposal is not a panacea, and examples can certainly be cited of previous commissions that have failed to live up to their advance billing. Nevertheless, given the difficulties of making headway on entitlement reform, it seems well worth considering. The SAFE board has therefore notified Heritage of our willingness to help further this proposal through advance work for town hall meetings, commentary on our Website and in our newsletter, letters to the editor, etc.

Please let one of the directors know how you feel about the idea of a SAFE Commission, we would love to hear from you!

WE HAVE BEEN PUT IN JEOPARDY BY THE IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR OF PAST AND PRESENT MEMBERS OF THE U.S. CONGRESS.

We’ll have a table at Newark, DE Community Day (09/16/07) on University of Delaware Campus. We’ll probably include elimination of federal grants, but details not worked out. Any suggestions? Contact us.

If you haven’t written a letter to the editor about federal grants, maybe the article on the next page will inspire you. Please copy it and give it to acquaintances. Maybe they will join SAFE and/or even send their own letter to the editor. Bliss.

Cato Institute explains in a 32 page booklet, “It’s Your Money”. If you’d like a copy, just contact Bill Morris.

To avert a clogged drain and the need to hire a plumber to unclog it, periodically fill the sink with hot water. Let it rush through and clean out the drain. The plumber uses a plunger to hold the water in and flushes out once a week.

We have been put in jeopardy by the irresponsible behavior of past and present members of the U.S. Congress. They have not only failed to prepare for retirement of the baby boomers, they have increased the federal debt when they should have been paying off the debt. The best way to minimize the damage they have done is to cut federal government spending, and pay off as much debt as possible. There is very little time left. The present trickle of baby boomer retirements will become a raging stream in just a few years.

Simply put, the federal government must be downsized. Chris Edwards has addressed this need with his Cato Institute book, “Downsizing The Federal Government”. This has been selected as a handbook by the Board of Directors of SAFE (Secure America’s Future Economy). Based on Chris Edward’s book, the SAFE Directors have chosen to attack federal government grants with a letter to the editor campaign. Letters to the editor that have been published are included in the website www.s-a-f-e.org. Please join the letters to the editor campaign.

The main reason for attacking federal grants is that they are huge – about $500 billion a year. Huge savings are needed to put a real dent in the federal debt. In addition, federal grants have severe disadvantages, which Chris Edwards describes under the heading: “Five Pathologies of Grants”. Here they are, very briefly:

1. They produce extravagant overspending. State and local politician’s gold plate their programs and spend wastefully because someone else is paying part of the costs.

2. They create unfair redistribution of taxpayer’s money. Examples are Boston’s “Big Dig” and Senator Robert Byrd’s West Virginia “Highways to nowhere”.

3. They reduce state government flexibility and innovation. One example is Medicaid laws and regulations (the federal government pays part of the Medicaid cost). Another example is the No Child Left Behind Law.

4. The costly federal, state and local bureaucracies required to keep track of the grants.

5. The time and information “overload” for citizens and federal politicians. Members of Congress attend hearings and meetings to pursue grants for their districts when they should be attending to issues of national importance.

Elimination of federal government grants has two huge advantages. First, it will decrease the odds of a fiscal meltdown which can leave us and our descendents with serious problems. If moving the programs to state and local governments causes fiscal problems there, the consequences will be much less serious.

The second advantage is that putting state and local governments in charge will minimize or eliminate the foregoing pathologies.

There is a lot of good information in “Downsizing the Federal Government”, so you may want your own copy. Just call your favorite book store.

Repetition is important in advertising, including advertising the idea of eliminating federal grants. You are invited to join SAFE members in repeatedly pushing the idea of eliminating federal grants. Talk to friends, call talk radio, send a letter to the editor. Feel free to use a letter verbatim if you send it to a newspaper outside of Delaware. Or, feel free to make modest changes to a letter that is on www.s-a-f-e.org and send it to: Editor, The News Journal, P.O. Box 15505, Wilmington, DE 19850.

National Taxpayers Conference	Community Day 2007
Upgrading Website	Tip from a Plumber
Our New Name	Stop Federal Grants