Downsize DC Blog

Media notice: Tune-in to hear me on the Jerry Hughes show today. Details below my signature.

Quote of the Day:

"Government doesn't work."
-- Harry Browne

Subject: Government vs. You

In 1871 the city of Chicago burned to the ground. There was no FEMA or large federal funding to rebuild it. Instead, the people of Chicago rebuilt their own city and in short order it soared to new heights.

In 1906, after a major earthquake, the city of San Francisco also burned down. There was no FEMA or large federal funding to rebuild it. Instead, the people of San Francisco did it themselves and the city was soon restored.

In 2005 a large part of the city of New Orleans was destroyed when a levy, designed, built, and maintained by government, proved inadequate to protect against a hurricane that was far from the worst that could have struck the city. Private citizens and businesses such as Wal-Mart rushed to the city's aid, but were largely blocked by federal officials. FEMA and large federal funding were there to rebuild the city, but today much of New Orleans still lies in ruins.

We see the evidence all around us, where government seeks to help, harm often follows.

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

Quote of the Day:

"I freed thousands of slaves. I could have freed thousands more if they had known they were slaves."
-- Harriet Tubman

Subject: A Day of Infamy & Inspiration

Saturday is an anniversary. May 10, 2005 was a day that will live in infamy. On that date the Senate passed the REAL ID Act.

No Senate majority ever intended this outcome. We had defeated REAL ID in the Senate twice before. After the second vote the Senate declined to vote again.

The White House and the House Republican leadership got around this by inserting the bill into the "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005." This bill provided funding for the troops, the war on terror, and Tsunami reflief -- a trifecta of things no politician would oppose.

They might as well have called it the Motherhood, Flag-waving, and Apple Pie Act.

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Quote of the Day:

"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

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Quote of the Day:

"The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home."
-- James Madison

Subject: Summertime War with Iran?

Is another war brewing? ...this time with Iran? 

The administration claims Iranian-backed Shia militias are attacking U.S. troops in Iraq. Iran denies its involvement. Other reports say that Sunnis have been responsible for 2/3rds of the attacks in Iraq. It's also important to note that Al Qaeda is a Sunni group, not Shia.

So who is responsible for most of the killing? Is is really the Shia Mullah's in Iran?

These Sunni-Shia distinctions confuse John McCain, Bill O'Reilly, and millions of Americans. General David Petraeus played on this ignorance in testimony to Congress last month. He blamed Iran's support of Shia militias for MOST of the remaining problems in Iraq. He said,

Iran has fueled the violence... with the Iraqi Security Forces, we have also focused on the Special Groups. These elements are funded, trained, armed, and directed by Iran's Qods Force... It is clearly in our national interest to resist Iranian encroachment.

Petraeus' rhetorical performance earned him a promotion, from military boss in Iraq, to chief of Central Command. His military responsibility now includes virtually the entire Middle East, including Iran.

Is this promotion another sign that President Bush wants to attack Iran before he leaves office? Andrew Cockburn reports,

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

Quote of the Day:

"Why not take advantage of the clever Downsize DC system like I just did? Invest five minutes today to sign up, and then from time to time you, too, can help bombard congress and pressure them into doing the right thing with your money."

- "creator," a blogger at Truth Realm

Subject: Big Business Loves Big Government

Politicians tell us that government protects the people from the cut-throat practices of Big Business. But in truth, Big Government is in bed with Big Business. If I were CEO of a major corporation - let's call it the Big Widget Corporation - I would love Big Government. That's because I could:

• lobby Congress to subsidize the widget industry, explaining how vital widgets are to the economy.

• lobby for tariff protection against imported widgets. This will allow my company to gouge American consumers with higher prices.

• lobby for regulations that would drive my smaller competitors out of business.

But what is good for the Big Widget Corporation's shareholders isn't necessarily good for the American taxpayers, who must pay for this special treatment. That's why we want the Big Government-Big Business marriage to end in divorce. We can break up the marriage by changing the way Congress does things.

Political Realism: Politicians are always going to be self-interested, rather than true "public servants."

Some might even call that, "the appearance of corruption." In response, the Good Government crowd suggests government oversight boards, ever-more complex ethics rules, and taxpayer financing of campaigns.

Others will say we must elect better people. But that won't ever happen . . .  at least not in significant numbers.

We must deal with this fact. We need a strategy that takes Political Realism into account and takes us to our goal of Downsizing DC.

And on today's Downsize DC Conference Call, you'll learn how we can make Political Realism our friend.

My TWO HOUR radio show

Today's Downsizer Dispatch . . .

Quote of the Day:

"I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me, Superman."
-- Homer Simpson

Subject: We interrupt this broadcast for our regular scheduled month-end commercial

Today's the last day for us to make budget for April. We made good progress yesterday, but we still need to raise $1,587. We're asking you, because we have only you to ask. Contributions in the following amounts would do the trick . . .

• 1 of $1,000 and 1 of $500
• 3 of $500
• 6 of $250
• 15 of $100
• 30 of 50
• 60 of $25
• 150 of $10

We'll get back to work. Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC army.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Today's Downsizer Dispatch . . .

Quote of the Day:

"With $10,000 we'd be millionaires! We could buy all kinds of useful things. Like love!"
-- Homer Simpson

Subject: What the calendar says

The calendar says April has only two days remaining, so here we are with our usual month-end frundraising drive. We need just $2,312 more to make budget for this month. DC Downsizers are our only source of funds, so if we don't ask you . . . we have nowhere to go.

Here are the contributions that would do the job . . .

• 2 of $1,000 and 1 of $300
• 5 of $500
• 10 of $250
• 23 of $100
• 46 of $50
• 92 of $25

If you can help, here's the place to do it.

Thank you for being a DC Downsizer.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

Last week, the Presidents of Mexico and the U.S. met with the Prime Minister of Canada to work on the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). The SPP is a working relationship between bureaucrats in all three countries to promote greater uniformity in economic and security matters. Here are two of the SPP's goals, from the SPP's own website:

• Safe Food & Products: Strengthen cooperation to better identify, assess and manage unsafe food and products before they enter North America, and collaborate to promote the compatibility of our related regulatory and inspection regimes;

• Energy and Environment: Develop projects under the newly signed Agreement on Science and Technology; and cooperate on moving new technologies to the marketplace, auto fuel efficiency and energy efficiency standards ;

What's the goal here? Simply, if something is manufactured in Mexico or Canada, it won't have to be inspected when entering the United States. In addition, if something is imported into Mexico or Canada, their inspections will be "good enough" and the goods can be trucked into the United States with no further inspections.

What is the driving force behind this integration? Not the people of the three countries. Congress had no say in the formation of the SPP.

I'm traveling this weekend. So Ian and Mark of Free Talk Live agreed to host my Sunday radio show, the Downsize DC Conference Call.

Free Talk Live is a show hosted by long-time DC Downsizers, heard on more than 30 stations around the U.S., Monday thru Saturday. Their format is simple -- they want you to call them. You choose the topic. That's when the fun begins on Free Talk Live.

I have no idea what they have planned today, save for an update from my sponsor, Gun Owners of America.

My guess is

DownsizeDC.org has joined 28 other organizations in sending the House and Senate a message asking them to support S. 2088, the National Security Letters Reform Act. Here is the copy of the letter sent to the Senate:

April 22, 2008

Hon. John Conyers, Jr., Chairman
Hon. Lamar S. Smith, Ranking Minority Member
House Committee on the Judiciary
2138 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-6216

Re: National Security Letters Reform Act, S. 2088

Dear Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Specter:

The Judiciary Committee will soon consider issues relating to National Security Letters. We write to express our support for the National Security Letters Reform Act (S. 2088).

The PATRIOT Act and Intelligence Authorization Act of FY 2004 drastically expanded the FBI's authority to obtain the business and personal records of Americans by issuing National Security Letters (NSLs). NSLs, which do not require prior judicial approval, can be used to obtain a wide range of documents based upon vague claims that the information is merely "relevant" to a terrorism investigation. Once the FBI acquires records with an NSL, it can keep them indefinitely, even when it concludes that the subject of those records is innocent of any crime and is not of intelligence interest.

(Continued)...

Today's Downsizer Dispatch . . .

Quote of the Day:

"It is indeed probable that more harm and misery have been caused by men determined to use coercion to stamp out a moral evil than by men intent on doing evil."
-- Fredrich von Hayek, Nobel Laureate in Economics, from "The Constitution of Liberty"

Subject: Progress Report

We've been busy this month, mostly with behind the scenes stuff that you'll begin to see in May. Meanwhile, we've been clicking right along in April with our integrated campaign of education, recruitment, and pressure on Congress . . .

Today's Downsizer Dispatch . . .

Change the political environment. Recruit more Downsizers. Share this message with others.

Quote of the Day:

"If we run into such debts, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our callings and our creeds, as the people of England are, our people, like them, must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, give the earnings of fifteen of these to the government for their debts and daily expenses; and the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live, as they now do, on oatmeal and potatoes; have no time to think, no means of calling the mismanagers to account; but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Subject: Is this really Tax Freedom Day?

Congratulations, you're now working for yourself. The Tax Foundation declares that today is Tax Freedom Day. From January 1 to today you were working for the government. From today through the end of the year, you'll be working for yourself.

Maybe.

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

Change the political environment. Recruit more Downsizers. Share this message with others.

Quote of the Day:

"Nothing is as terrible to see as ignorance in action."
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) Source: engraved on a plaque at the Naval War College

Subject: Bureaucratic bookkeeping vs. targeted surveillance

Which is more likely to protect you from terrorism, a database and a plastic ID card, or targeted surveillance of probable terrorists?

REAL ID is mere bureaucratic bookkeeping. It aims to put EVERY LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN in a database, give us a special ID card, and then constantly ask us the totalitarian's favorite question, "May I see your papers please?"

But how exactly would a REAL ID card protect you from a suicide bomber? Could you throw it at them, or use it to shield yourself from the blast? Would a suicide bomber even . . .

On today's (Sunday) Downsize DC Conference Call (radio show), I'm going to have two guests. And we have a brand new feature you're going to like.

And if at least one of my guests can't get you interested and excited -- ready to listen and even participate -- well, you might be asleep. Wake up! It's going to be quite an informative and entertaining program.

Guest #1 - David Keating, SpeechNow.org

The show starts at 3:06 PM Eastern (2:06 PM Central, 1:06 PM Mountain, and 12:06 PM Pacific), and I'll be joined during the first hour by David Keating, Executive Director of the Club for Growth. But it's not his day job that interests me this April afternoon. He's also the man behind SpeechNow.org. 

SpeechNow.org is suing the Federal Election Commission (FEC), with the expert assistance of folks like former FEC Chair Brad Smith. This group, led by today's guest, David Keating, is challenging the restrictions campaign finance laws place on the exercise of First Amendment rights -- asserting the "freedom of association" principle

Many of you may remember or know that my show sponsor and my employer, DownsizeDC.org, Inc., which has been operating since mid-2004, was preceded by RealCampaignReform.org, Inc.(RCR). RCR was the organizing plaintiff of Paul v. FEC, one of eleven plaintiff groups that participated in McConnell v. FEC, a challenge to the un-Constitutional, McCain-Feingold, Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). I have a deep and abiding interest in this issue because I recognize that . . .

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

Quote of the Day

“As a rule of thumb, Congressional legislation that is bipartisan is usually twice as bad as legislation that is partisan.” - Thomas Sowell

Subject: Senate underscores need for RTBA and OSTA

Last week, the Senate passed two bills. Well, actually, they passed more bills than that, but they were combined into two.

H.R. 3221, was originally titled "New Direction For Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act" and passed the House last summer. The Senate didn't consider this bill at the time, but did pass, along with the House, the very similar "Energy Independence and Security Act" (H.R. 6) which was signed into law. But over the past two weeks the Senate dug H.R. 3221 from the committee graveyard, and "amended" it by replacing the entire text and turning it into the 157-page "Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008."

The final vote was taken after several dozens of amendments were considered over the previous week. After it was passed on April 10, it took the Government Printing Office seven days to put the new H.R. 3221 on-line. At the time of this writing, the Library of Congress still hasn't posted a summary of the new version.

Is it acceptable that the people don't know the contents of a bill until a week or more after it has passed? Shouldn't we instead get a chance to read bills a week before they're voted on, to give Congress our feedback?

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

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Quote of the Day:

"Government's view of the  economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
-- Ronald Reagan

Subject: The ultimate test of ethanol

Our campaign against federal mandates and subsidies for ethanol provoked a huge response, both for and against. While thousands of DC Downsizers sent messages to Congress, an unusually large handful also wrote to us complaining that we were unfair to ethanol -- even though they agreed that federal mandates and subsidies should be repealed.

How were we unfair? Apparently, many of the problems associated with ethanol disappear when ethanol is produced and used directly on farms, using primarily farm waste in combination with passive solar power.

We have no quarrel with this assertion, and our campaign has nothing to do with that source and use of ethanol.

We would even agree that ethanol produced and used directly on farms could actually lower the price of food, in addition to having a beneficial impact on energy efficiency and CO2 emissions. But exactly the opposite is the case for industrial ethanol produced for use in the nation's cars. It's the latter phenomenon, driven by federal law and subsidy, that we oppose.

Today's Downsizer Dispatch . . .

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Quote of the Day:

"The rule of law thrives when the law is at peace with the people, not when it’s a cudgel."
-- Jim Harper, scholar, Cato Institute

Subject: A message from the Unknown Taxpayer

We received a message from a DC Downsizer over the weekend. This person wishes to remain anonymous, but has agreed to let us share the message . . .

Today's Downsizer Dispatch . . .

Change the political environment. Recruit more Downsizers. Share this message with others.

Quotes of the Day:

NINTH AMENDMENT: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

TENTH AMENDMENT: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Subject: More progress on the "Enumerated Powers Act"

The "Enumerated Powers Act" would force Congress to cite its Constitutional authority for every law it passes. When we last reported to you on this bill in mid-March it had 44 co-sponsors. Since then the bill has gained 3 more co-sponsors. Perhaps the 12,534 messages sent by DC Downsizers (up from 8,328 in our last report) helped generate this progress.

Let's keep pushing.

Lots of Americans are doing their taxes this weekend. I'm one of them.

It would be nice if there was a radio program that made you feel better as you filled out those forms and wrote your check. Well, today's Downsize DC Conference Call (radio show) will NOT be that program!

Everyone should feel bad about the IRS and the Income Tax. And for those wage slaves who are excited about their big refunds . . . they should feel bad too! Why? Because Big Government hurts, and if you got that large refund, that just means you lent the federal government your money at zero interest. 

Downsize DC was founded on an idea . . .

* Democrats tax and spend. In fact, the two remaining candidates are both calling for an increase in your taxes.
* Republicans borrow and spend. And, the presumptive nominee has all kinds of new spending plans, especially for fighting the strawman of terrorism.

. . . The PROBLEM is the spending!

Big Government costs you, inconveniences you, and occasionally hurts people you love. But it routinely injures a neighbor, damages your industry, and destroys your community -- it even kills people. We must Downsize DC for harmony and human progress.

I'm not usually prone to ranting and

Jim Babka, President of DownsizeDC.org, was interviewed by Wikinews last week. Though brief, this interview provides an excellent summary of what Downsize DC stands for and does. You can read it here.

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

Quote of the Day:

"Join Downsize DC, that marvelous organization building a non-partisan army to force our representatives, regardless of party, to actually represent us."

- Dann McCreary, Truth Realm

Subject: Truth or Satire?

Did Congress ban wireless internet networks last week?

According to John C. Dvorak of PC Magazine, it did. He goes into detail in his article, Onerous New Law to Phase Out Wi-Fi:

• The bill, with the pretentious title Telecommunications Restructuring Act, passed with little or no debate.

• The bill was bipartisan. Co-sponsors were from both parties.

• The beneficiaries of the bill are large telecoms, who can afford to purchase the currently free, unlicensed spectrum, which will be auctioned off.

• There is a "phase-out" transition period, which is why the bill slipped under the radar of major media and activist groups.

• Harsh penalties are imposed, and the bill would apply not just to network users, but ham radio operators and microwave oven users. It is unclear whether this was intentional.

• The bill was debated on CNBC, where one of the bill's sponsors clearly didn't know what he was talking about.

• Only two members of Congress, Ron Paul and Ted Kennedy, opposed the bill.

• Presidential candidates Obama, Clinton, and McCain didn't have the guts to show up to vote.

The good news is, it was an April Fool's joke.

Congressional candidate Richard Matthews has an excellent statement on the Enumerated Powers Act:

Richard Matthews is in full support of the Enumerated Powers Act. It was first introduced in 1995 by Rep John Shadegg of Arizona’s Third Congressional District and in Maryland is co-sponsored by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett of the Sixth District. This bill has been reintroduced every two years but has never entered into the agenda of it’s assigned committee (Judiciary, and Rules), nor been offered for a up or down vote on the floor.

The Enumerated Powers Act is a simple bill that requires Congress, on every bill, to site the constitutional authority relied upon for the enactment of each portion of the Act in question. This straightforward bill should be supported by every member of congress without hesitation.

(Continued)...

Today's Downsizer Dispatch . . .

Subject: Harnessing the power of "social confirmation"

We often think of sociology as a soft science, or as not a science at all, but sociologists are increasingly delivering interesting experimental results. One such result has something to teach us about the work of trying to Downsize DC.

Three sociologists at Columbia University, Duncan Watts, Matthew Salganil, and Peter Dodds, conducted the following experiment . . .

• They recruited 14,000 people to register at a website
• This website allowed people to listen to, download, and rate songs by unknown bands
• One group was given only the names of the songs and the bands, while . . .
• The other group was also shown how many times each song was downloaded

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

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Quote of the Day:

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
-- H.L. Mencken

Fact of the Day:

U.S. policy is at war with itself in Afghanistan. The Afghan army is destroying poppy fields in the service of America's "war on drugs." Meanwhile, the American army is fighting the Taliban to protect the Afghan government, and Afghan farmers are paying the Taliban to protect their poppy fields from the Afghan army. Thus, the harder we fight the "war on drugs" in Afghanistan the harder it becomes to win the war against the Taliban. Source: Newsweek, April 7, 2008

Subject: Bush administration continues lying

Courtesty of Ed Brayton, more evidence of lies from the Bush administration . . .

Our new Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, gave a speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on March 27. In the speech Mukasey asserted that national security secrets would be exposed in court unless the telecom companies that participated in the Bush administration's warrantless spying program receive immunity for their actions. 

This is a lie.

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .

Change the political environment. Recruit more Downsizers. Share this message with others.

Quote of the Day:

“Democracy is the theory that the people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.”
-- H.L. Menken

Fact of the Day:

633 Iraqi civilians were killed and 701 wounded in February -- a 30% increase over January.
1,720 Iraqi civilians were killed in March and another 4,140 were wounded -- a 31% increase over February.

Subject: Government stupidity

The most incompetent institution in the world -- otherwise known as the federal government -- has a new plan to protect you from terrorism. Get this . . .

Fishermen on Lake Erie must now carry passports, in case they cross the invisible border with Canada that bisects the lake. Then, thanks to the so-called Department of Homeland Security, when the fishermen return to shore, they must drive to a government office and have their pictures taken.

Do you feel safer?

Today's Downsizer-Dispatch . . .
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Quote of the Day:

"Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people."
-- Oscar Wilde "The Soul of Man Under Socialism," 1891

Fact of the Day:

British dentists have been forced to go on holiday because they've fulfilled the annual work quotas allotted to them by the National Health Service. The dentists are denying treatment to patients because the government will not pay them to do the work. More than 7 million British citizens are unable to find an NHS dentist. Universal access?

Subject: End the Ethanol Scam

The politicians want us to burn more ethanol in our cars. Like most plans concocted by politicians, this one is a terrible idea that is having devastating consequences. Here are the facts about ethanol . . .

Ethanol consumes more energy than it produces. A study by Cornell and UC Berkeley found that corn converted to ethanol consumes 29% more energy than it creates. Most of these energy losses come from the burning of extra fossil fuels. Energy losses from other sources of ethanol, such as switch grass (45%) and wood (57%) are even worse.

Strike one for ethanol.

We received word, and have confirmed, that Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen's office is accepting feedback on Real ID. Tennesseans, just call 615-741-2001 to voice your opinion.

We don't know if it's that easy in the rest of the states, but the phone numbers for governor's offices are easily found on the web. Calling your governor about Real ID certainly won't hurt, and may help a lot in defeating it.

Change the political environment. Recruit more Downsizers. Share this message with others.

Quote of the Day:

"..the Bill of Rights does not come from the people and is not subject to change by majorities. It comes from the nature of things. It declares the inalienable rights of man not only against all government but also against the people collectively."
-- Walter Lippmann

Subject: Ron Paul's "American Freedom Agenda Act"

Please ask your Congressperson and your two Senators to co-sponsor Ron Paul's "American Freedom Agenda Act."

This bill would . . .

Change the political environment. Recruit more Downsizers. Share this message with others.

Quote of the Day:

"The shallow consider liberty a release from all law, from every constraint. The wise see in it, on the contrary, the potent Law of Laws."
-- Walt Whitman ("Notes Left Over" 1881)

Subject: Government reports a future flood of red ink

The Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare programs released their annual report over the spring break. They continue to project a future flood of red ink.

• The 75-year unfunded liabilities are projected to be $42.9 trillion

• The "infinite horizon" liabilities are projected at $101.7 trillion

Please note that these figures do not include projections for continuing to service the ever-growing national debt, which are included in the report from the Government Accountability Office we use for our "Unfunded Liabilities" campaign.