How you changed the rules that govern our rulers

You can (and did) change the rules that rule our rulers.

Give yourself a round of applause. You changed the rules that rule our rulers.

Wait, you changed the rules?

Yes. Here’s how…

The House of Representatives recently created a new single-subject rule. Each bill they vote on must now be about only one subject.

Does that sound familiar?

This new rule was implemented during the fight to elect a new Speaker of the House. It was a concession. Kevin McCarthy promised this to some Freedom Caucus members to gain their votes. So get this…

Six members of the House Freedom Caucus have been co-sponsors of our One Subject at a Time Act! This should tell you something…

The House Freedom Caucus got the “one subject” idea from you!
Your pressure gave them the inspiration and courage to fight for the idea.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again…

Politicians are followers, not leaders!

You were the leader in this case. You showed the way. They followed.

But does that mean our work is done? Not hardly. Please understand…

This new rule is NOT a law. It can and will be waived. It remains to be seen how soon and how often.

Plus, the rule applies only to the House. It has no impact on the Senate. So this means…

We still need to pass the One Subject at a Time Act (OSTA)

The good news on this front is…

Rand Paul has reintroduced in the Senate – S. 287
And now OSTA has been reintroduced yet again in the House – H.R. 91 – with a new lead sponsor, Representative Andy Biggs, a Republican for Arizona’s 5th district.

Alas, the bill now has a new name in the House. It is now called…

The One Bill, One Subject Transparency Act

Frankly, we like our name better, so we will stick with OSTA in all of our promotional efforts while noting in passing that the House version has a different name than the Senate version.

We’ve also done a word-for-word review of both bills, and they are substantially the same as what we originally proposed.

So where does that leave us?

Downsize DC has done a lot with a little

So far as we know, we’re the only libertarian organization that has…

Written legislation that has been introduced in Congress.
Caused a change in how the government operates.

You can add to this the powerful impact our legal briefs have had…

We alone argued to restore the property rights basis of the Fourth Amendment in the
Jones case, and the Supreme Court agreed.
We also argued that campaign finance laws violate YOUR freedom of the PRESS, and the Supreme Court agreed in the Citizens United ruling.

Plus, the courts are starting to invoke the nondelegation arguments behind our Write the Laws Act.