Be the media for your friends on this issue

You must be the media for your friends on this issue

The regime media won’t cover this story, so your friends won’t know about it. The media agenda is to distract and manipulate. That means it’s up to you to refocus attention on things that matter, to set a new and better agenda.

How you can be the media in your work lunchroom

Take this message with you to work (or to your next social outing). In the lunchroom ask your coworkers if they’ve heard of the America Competes Act? The answer will usually be no.

Inform them the act is 2,912-pages long.

Ask them if they think anyone in Congress has actually read all of the bill. The answer will again be no for most people most of the time.

Tell them that Democratic leaders claim the bill will achieve two things…

1. Address supply chain issues.
2. Keep U.S. manufacturing and technology competitive.

But Elizabeth Nolan Brown, of Reason magazine, has a compiled list that shows what the bill actually does.

• Combat sexual harassment in science
• Give more science grants to people with caregiving responsibilities;
• Retain and advance women and minorities in science and tech careers
• Subvert censorship in China
• Support collective bargaining agreements and union organizing efforts.
• Attack Chinese fentanyl production
• Protect brands by making e-commerce sites liable for selling copy-cat products
• Fight misinformation in foreign media
• Prohibit global wildlife trafficking
• Address legal conventions in Pacific Island nations
• Enhance arctic mammal rescue capabilities
• Increase coral research
• Investigate the origins of the COVID-19 virus
• Ban shark fin sales,
• Regulate driftnet fishing in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone
• Regulate the transportation of certain wildlife across state lines
• Provide funds for Chinese language studies
• Authorize and fund various climate change initiatives
• Promote solar power
• Spread U.S. propaganda overseas
• Promote the consumption of certain types of seafood.

You can ask your colleagues to ponder how many of these projects relate to supply chain issues or competitiveness. The point is NOT to argue with them about which items do or don’t solve supply chain issues and/or make the U.S. more competitive.

The point is to make them think about it

Don’t get bogged down in debating whether these efforts are good or bad, and don’t spend too much time debating whether any given item would fix supply chains or make the U.S. more competitive. There will always be some loudmouth who will make those arguments. Rather, “set the agenda” by moving the discussion in this direction…

Most of these issues are unrelated to each other. Some may be good, but many are surely bad. Shouldn’t each issue have to stand or fall on its own merits? Show them…

OSTA – the One Subject at a Time Act

OSTA…

• Has been introduced in both chambers of Congress
• Has multiple co-sponsors.
• Requires every bill to be about one subject only
• Prohibits courts from enforcing measures that violate the one subject requirement

Ask your friends and co-workers if they support OSTA. For those who answer yes, tell them that…

Agenda Setters is recruiting 300 people per district to visit local congressional offices in waves of 3, 5, or 6 at a time, each time requesting that their representative co-sponsor the bill.

Once Agenda Setters has a majority of co-sponsors the OSTA will pass! Bills like the 2,100-page America Competes Act will become impossible.

Ask your supportive friends if they want to be one of The 300 for OSTA. Tell them they’ll be able to schedule their congressional visits on a day and time convenient to them. Describe Option Activism: They won’t have to take any action until all 300 people are recruited, that way we can ensure that no one’s time will be wasted.

If your friends say yes, ask them to get out their phone and visit our OSTA page, where they can sign-up. Then…

Tell us about your experience

Write to us to report on your experiments with lunchroom activism. Just hit Reply to this newsletter message.

Please also help us recruit more people to The 300 by contributing or starting a monthly pledge.

Finally, if you haven’t yet joined The 300 for OSTA please do so now.

Join the OSTA 300

Set your own agenda,

Jim Babka, President
Agenda Setters by Downsize DC

Today’s Action: Join The 300 to pass the One Subject at a Time Act