Phone from Home

Over the past few years, several of our campaign volunteers have crossed state lines to phone bank for pro-repeal candidates. The whole concept is so powerful, I'm not sure why more people don't do it.

All it takes is a list of phone numbers, and a script to read to voters. I've done it myself several times, and it takes about one minute for each phone call. And it's probably the most effective thing you can do, especially since you can do it from the comfort of your own home.

Looks like Ron Paul's campaign has taken advantage of this tactic. Here is a link that shows how it works: phone.ronpaul2012.com/v/login.php?v=1. This web page includes a video that explains it all.

When it comes to fighting the helmet law, it's a perfect fit. There are always special elections going on in a few states, and these races often feature candidates who support your right to decide. Voter outreach is critical to the success of any campaign, and it's easy to be a part.

Want your freedom back? All you have to do is lift a finger ... and dial up some voters.

Voter Data

When it comes to winning elections, knowing the lay of the land is very important. If you know the terrain, you can take advantage of it.

This will be an important part of our new website design. You will be able to sort of each district in your state based on the percentages of Democratic and Republican voter registrations.

For districts that lean heavily towards one party, primary races provide the only real opportunity to change anything. These are especially important. Because primary turnout is usually low, we can use this to our advantage. The fewer the voters, the greater our impact.

For evenly matched districts, the general election will be our focus. These are called swing districts, and both parties run strong campaigns to win them. We should too.

Website Progress

The website redesign project is right moving along. We have just signed up with a new hosting service.

The next step is to get all the old addresses pointed to the new server. Once that's done, it will be time to build, test, and deploy.

Thanks for your patience.

Money Bomb

Today is the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, and the "Father of the TEA Party" is celebrating the occasion with a "Money Bomb."

What is a Money Bomb? It's how Ron Paul raises money for his presidential campaign. He can't count on fat cats from Wall Street or K Street, nor does he want to. As many already know, Ron Paul can't be bought.

However, money talks and BS walks. That's why so many regular folks donate to him. Sure, the donations are small. But the numbers are impressive. As an example, more members of the military donate to Ron Paul than any other candidate. In fact, airmen, soldiers, and sailors account for his greatest donations.

To donate, visit RonPaul2012.com. You just might win a FREE COUNTRY!

Surrogate Agency

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is promoting a nationwide ban on the use of electronic devices in cars.

The NTSB gained tremendous respect over the years for their thorough investigations of aircraft, rail, and pipiline accidents. This was largely due to their independence from political influence.

Not so any more.

Recently they stepped into political waters by evaluating motorcycle safety. This was no accident investigation. They waded into political territory. Now they're calling for more national legislation.

Now this is just a guess, but I believe they're doing this at the behest of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). While NHTSA has a long history of calling for national legislation to save us from ourselves, they have been barred from lobbying.

So what's a poor agency to do when they're barred from lobbying? Find another government body to do their work for them, of course. By relying on the good reputation of the NTSB, they can call for more traffic laws without actually doing it themselves.

How do we confront this flanking maneuver? It all comes down to political power.

Agency heads are political appointees. They get their jobs and their missions from elected officials. You can write agencies all day long, but they answer to their masters.

A wise man once said, "If you have a problem with the dog, go for the one who's holding the leash." When candidates hit the campaign trail in 2012, that's the time to make it an issue. The rest will take care of itself.

Money for Nothing

The latest buzz is on all the biker email lists. "Contact your legislator!"

The reason for the clamor is Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ), who is sponsoring legislation to blackmail states into passing helmet laws. The kicker is that the "incentive" for states will be motorcycle safety funds.

Many bikers are outraged that the government would use "our money" against us. After all, the motorcycle safety funds are supposed to be used only for motorcycle safety, right? But motorcycle safety is in the eye of the beholder. And for those in power, motorcycle safety means mandatory helmet laws.

The rationale for motorcyclist support of this funding is to demonstrate we're responsible riders. And responsible riders ought to be able to say where the money goes, as well as have a greater amount of control over laws affecting us.

This is not only wrong-headed thinking. It's foolish.

When we surrender our money to the government, we also surrender our rights. By giving them money, we give them control. Despite our best intentions (really, wishful thinking), government isn't going to do what's in our best interest. Government will do what's in their best interest. And they're interested in controlling us, whether we like it or not.

The real fallacy is what is commonly referred to as the "good little biker syndrome." This is the flawed belief that we can restore our rights by demonstrating that we're responsible adults.

But politics don't work this way. Politics is all about power. Those that have it make the rules. Those that don't must live by someone else's rules. And that's exactly where we find ourselves today.

The key to political power is to control the outcome of elections. Only then will legislators have an incentive to listen to us. All the pleading, statistics, and logic in the world cannot overcome political power.

This is why bikers must stop begging for their rights, and start getting good at winning elections for biker-friendly candidates. Put another way, if you are on the campaign trail, you're on the road to freedom. If you're going anywhere else, you're on a dead end.

By all means, call your legislators and let them know what you think. But be sure to let them know you're also a campaign volunteer. Otherwise they'll have no reason to pay you one bit of attention.

Meet and Greet

A few bikers and I met with our State Assembly member at her holiday open house. Aside from being a nice chance to spend time with an elected representative, it was also a very important meeting.

A few days prior I had met with the Assembly Member's legislative aid to discuss upcoming legislation. During our conversation, we talked about possibly introducing a bill to equalize the penalties for seatbelt and helmet law violations. Right now it's about three times as much for violating the helmet law.

With this topic fresh on their minds, seeing bikers show up at the Holiday Open House was a wise thing to do. Of course it allowed us to restate our interest in bills affecting motorcyclists. But more importantly, it demonstrated our ability to show up. And dependability is very important ... especially when the campaign season rolls around.

Thanks so much to those San Diego bikers who attended. You made a difference.

Get on the List

Want to do something about getting your rights back ... right now?

Whether it's the wee hours of the morning, or goofing off at work, as long as you're looking at a computer screen, you can take a little action. Should take less than 5 minutes, even if you're a slowpoke like me.

First, figure out who your state legislators are. The easiest way is to google the words "who's my legislator." You can also visit Project Vote Smart (www.votesmart.org) and type your ZIP Code into the box at the top of their home page.

Once you know who your state legislators are, go to the website for your state legislature and look them up. They all have a way for you to subscribe to newsletters. So take 5 minutes (at most) and get connected to your legislators.

Why is this important? You'll know when they're hosting events to meet their constituents (like you). Spending time face-to-face with your legislators is the best way to establish and maintain a relationship. And politics is all about relationships.

New Website

We have a new website in the works, so pardon the temporary loss of many of our features. Once the Repeal Machine is "out of the shop," it will be better than ever before.

In the mean time, the battle for your right to decide continues unabated. (No pun intended.)

Repeal Anniversary

Happy Birthday to me, and I'm very lucky to have been born on the 25th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition.

Now all we need to do is repeal a few more laws, like the mandatory helmet law, and the world will be a better place.