Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
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'A deficit occurs when the government spends more than it takes in-much in the same way that, if we're not careful, we ' might spend more money than we make. The <;:<1use increasing deficits, of then, 'should be obvious. Either the government is,taking in too little orit is spending too much. Which? To come up with a possible answer, let's compare 1962'with 1983. The year 1962 was the first full year of the Kennedy Administration-a time of peace and prosperity. Inflation was nmning at only 1.8%"and the prime interest rate was 4.5%. Federal revenues accounted for 18..2%of the gross national product (the nation's total output of goods and services) and federal ,spending was 19.5% of GN~ The difference-the deficit-totaled just $7.1 billion.
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TotarGo",ernmentSpendlng: Growlng'Without'ContToi
~ DIdyou know that It took federal, state and local governments: 155 yeal'S, from the foundIng of the Republic In 1789 to 1944, to spend more than $100 billion? 21 more yeal'S, to 1965; to spend more than $200 billion? Tenmor~ yeal'S, to 1$175, to spend over the $500 bllllot:' mark? ' An additional eIght yeal'S, to 1983, to exceed $1.2 trillion? At the 1965-1983 rate of growth, total federal, rtafe and local government expenditures In 1990 will Jump more than 22 times, to $2.6 trillion. Theywill more than double agaIn, to $7.4 trillion, In the year 2000.
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By 1983, federal revenues were holding steady-18.6% of GNP -but . spending had ballooned_to almost 25% of GNP. The 1983 deficit grew to $195.4 billion, or 28 times the 1962 deficit, because the governmeqt had grown bigger and spent more, not because it taxed less. If the goveimnent's current policies persist, federal spending will hit $5.5 trillion in the year 2000, or about seven times what the government spen~ in 1983! (How to fathom 5.5 trilljon? In time, , 5.5 trillion seconds add up to 175,000 years; in inches, its almost 90 million miles. ) . By the year 2000, unbridled federal, state and local spending could consume about half this country's ,GN~ Consume is the right word. Gov~rnffient spending produces little. It is big and getting bigger. And the deficit could reach $2 trillion in the year 2000. All this is.bad-ifwe want a f\tture for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.. And if we want that future without even higher taxes, higher inflation, higher , interest rates and higher unemp~oyrnent. And ifwe want to preserve our social and econorruc systems.' , But that's not the future we'll ~et if the government does not restrain its , growth and spending. Our politicallead-,' ers must act more responsibly. This will corne about only if taxpayers act'more responsibly, too, and demand a halt to wasteful spending.
How Big Is BIG? '
The federal government Is the nation's biggeSt borrower, lender, employer, Insurer, landowner, tenant and landlord, and the bIggest owner of shIps, graIn, warehouses and trucks. DId you know that the government: Accounts for 25% of all U.S. economIc activity? Owns 744 million acres of land, or one tlilrd the U.S.,landmass? " . Employs 4.9 million people, or 4.3% ottlre U.S. labor force? OccupIes 2.6 b,IIIon, square feet of o,fflce space, or four times the tOtal offIce space In the ten' " largest U.S. cltle~? Has an annual cash flow of $2 trillion? That's $8 billion collected and spent each workday, ,or about $1 bllllolfan hour. ' AdmInIsters more than 400,000 sIngle and multifamIly housing units? "'. Made available credit of more than three quarters of a trillion dollars In'1982, equal to the total credit provIded by the nation's 70 largest commercial lenders? . Spent $3.5 billion on housekeepIng and general maIntenance In 1983?, Runs 963 subsIdIzed programs at an annual cost of more tlian $400 billion? Lays out nearly $50 million a year to prInt, new food stamps and destroy old ones? , : . , Provides medical care for 47 million people, or more than 200AJ of the p'opulatlon? .' Spends about $2..8 billion on mailings a year? , . ' .'Owns almost '))437,000 '. nonmIlitary vehicles? .. ' ~,
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Has a computerworlcforce totaling more th!Jn 250,000 people, exceeding the population of St. Petersburg; Florida, to run some 17,000 computers?';,! ' ',,' ""'~, '.. ~,,\.::. Provides 95 million meals a day? .
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mone~andhow?
The Information Gap
The federal budget and accounting systems are a Joke-a bad Joke on taxpayers. Information the govemment needs Is either unavailable, . lncomplete, wrong or out of date.
For example:
The Social Security Admln/stratJon has 138 million partlclpant-Income reports, valued at $89 billion, which cannot be matched to Individual accounts to determine eventual benefits. Duplicate and erroneous payments are made to recipients of Aid to Families With Dependent Children, Medicaid and food stamps because the government has no central data base to determine eligibility. The Department of the Army does not know how much It spends on automatic data processing and office automation, what kind or how many computers It has, where these computers are and whether or not they sh9Uld be replaced .
much debt is current, how much is delinquent and how much is at subsidized interest rates. Let's look at two examples off~deral lending. The Rural Electrification Administration lends money to utilities at a
. maximum interest rate of 5%. To make these loans, REA borrows at about 12%. As a r~sult, it is going broke. (The House of Representatives recently approved a $21 billionbailout.) Next time you're in the . nation's capital, take a -lookat your tax dollars helping to light the lights in "rural" Washington, D. C. If you ask members of Congress ' how much the Fanners Home Administration is spending, chances are they'll get it wrong. Federal accounting almost guarantees it. For instance, the Agricultural Credit Insurance Fund spent about $13.5 billion in 1984..However, Congress was asked' to ~pprove only $1.5 billion, or a little more than one tenth of actual spending. /' Are you confused? Your representatives are, too. How can the goveminent spend nine times more than Congress authorizes? Well, it's magic. If individuals tried it, they might end up in jail. The government, though, pulls off this hocus-pocus by selling itself about $7 billion in loans. The government can spend in two ways: on-budget and off-budget. The on-budget Agricu1ttiral Credit Insurance Fund makes a loan, sells it to the off-budget Federal Financing Bank and, poof, the money 'is gone from the budget! Other novel accounting conventions, such as subtracting repayments from new loans before reporting new spending, guarantee that few taxpayers will ever figure out the federal loan game.
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the U.S. economy, (b) broadening the choices of coverage"arid treatinent under health insurance plans and (c) stimulatipg competition arriong health-care providers .. 3. Tqefederal g()vernment has con- '. centrated more on making loans than on
Thegovemment spends much '!Io.retha.n the prIvate sector to build haspltals and nursing hames, care for patients and pracess medical ~falms ,To. wit: Building a Veterans''Admlnlstl'atian haspltal In ttie Branx cost $153,000 a'bed. Thls.was 1.6 times the'$97,40CJ..a-bed cost to build the comparable Duke University Hasp~I.' The'VAspe"ds $61;256 a bed to build a nursing ; .home, ar almost fall.r times the $16, OOO-a~bed cast far a maJar prIVate nurslng-hame aperatOr.
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Federal military haspltalshad an average occupancy rate af anly 46% In 1981; Just eight af these hospitals reached the 85% accupancy rate that Private haspltals/alm far.' Yet, In 1983 the gavemment spent mare than $550 mllllo.n reimbursing private haspltals to care for military perso.nneleven thaugh these patients live near military hasp~'s. , . Military hospitals and clinics handle mare than 27 mllllanpatient-vlslts a year. When their patients are also. cavered by private health Insu;ers, the Deparlment af Defens~ fills to recaver the full casts af these visits frOmprivate health Insurers. Why? DOD can't alwaysplnpalnt what It spends an Individual patient tr~atlrient ar which patients have private sector coverage. ". The'average VAhaspltal stay Is 21 days, ar three times the private sector ave'rage, casting taxpayers $1.6 bllllan a year.
efficiently.managing them. Casual,loan supervision l:1a~.resultedin high default rates comPared' with private sector loans. The default rate for direct student loans, for instance, was 21.9% in 1983. Some $6.5 billion, or 16.7% of the government's current loans 'receivable are delinquent. All told' the suryey estimated the government would,save' $12.9 billion over three years by (a}.changing its ..emphisis from making loans t9 managing them well, .(b) ,providing incentives for , , federalloarl officers to reduce defaults, . (c).increasing' the use of private collection agencies and (d) converting as many direct loans as possible. to guaranteed loans. (In a guaranteed' arrangement, a pri~ate sector bank makes the loan, and the government guarqntees a percentage ,of that loan if the borrower sho1.1ld'aefault) In totaI,the survey-'made 443 recommendations to shrink or eliminate QrQgrarriwaste and.mefficiency. The resultant t:hfee-y.earsaVing.Q[$l60. 9 billionwould~ual the taxes Paid.by--
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II The VAspent an average $45 a day for each patle.nt an cantracted-aut nurslng':hame.care In 1981; the cm for similar ca.re within VA'sfacilitles;an $109,"o.r 2.4 tlm'es mare a day.
The VA'scost af processing medical claims totals $100 to $140 a claim campared with priVate Insurers' cast af $3 to $6 .
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The'survey reported: .. '1. In 1982 the government bought $159 billionin goods and services. More than 130,000 federal employees worked on these purchases governed by millions of contracts. More tha,n 80,000 pages of instructions control federal buying" with 20,000 new and revised pages produced each year. The survey projected,threeyear savings of $34. 5 billionby centralizing control, and increasing contractor competition and efficiency.' .
2. The government has sO'me17,POD. computers operated by more than 250,000 employees at a cost of about $12 billiona year. Most of these computers are old and mcompatible. Current replacement plans threaten to' make a bad situation worse. By 'upgrading and'replacing all its computers, the survey'esti.,. mated the goveriunent would save $22.6 billionover. thr~e years-after allowing for
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the purchasing and installation costs of these computers. 3. More than $30 billioncould be saved over three years by centralizing financialmanagement. Federal cash flow totals about $8 billioneach workday, or $2 trillion a year. U the government simply paid its bills when they came due rather than when they arrived, and deposited checks when they arrived instead of after they are processed, it would save more than $1.5 billionover three years. 4. The government would save another $6 billionover three years by improving management of its facilities and equipment. The government owns -almost .437,000 nonmilitary ve~cles averaging 9,000 miles of use each year. That use rate is little more than one third of what .private sector firms consider effective. U the government reduced its civilianfleet by 100,000 vehicles and reconditioned the
unwanted ones before sale, it would save $1.5 billion over three years. 5. Travel and shipping are costly. The government spends $4.8 billiona year on employee travel and $4.6 billion on shipping. Despite these hefty outlays, the government doesn't negotiate volume discounts. U it managed these and other housekeeping items better, it would save $lb.l billionover three years. 6. The government runs more than 1,500 "commercial" operations, which brought in about $40 billionin user fees in 1981. In most cases, the fees don't begin to cover federal costs. Taxpayers wind up subsidizing select groups. For example, the Food_and-Drug Administration spent' $4.5 million in 1981 on Freedom of Information Act requests, but collected only $231,000-in fees. More than 80% of the requests came from drug firms running routine market studies. A fairer system of user fees would save taxpayers $10.9 billion over three years. 7. U;thegovernment would transfer some commercial activities to the private sector, it would realize savings and revenues of about $37.1 billion over three years. These activities would include its five Power Marketing Administrations, which provide subsidized power to various sections of the country. The survey- came up-with 1,152 -ideas to correct sy-stems failures. Consequent three-y-ear savings of $151.3 billion would equal the taxes of 22. 7 million median-income families.
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The sUrvey fO\ll1d: , 1. Health benefits cost 'the govern While private sector employees contrIbute on ment a&but $450 million a year more than. average 33% to the total costs of the/rpens/ons, comparable benefits ,cost private,' civilian federal employees contrIbute only 19%, ,' . ' ",-':".:( i . msurers~ and the military only 13%? SInce 1968, cumulatlv~ cost-of-llvlng adJust2. Annual vacations .for'federal ments to federal pensIons have exceeded 'employees"cost the government 1.4 times Increases In white-collar salarIes and the ConsumerPrlce Index? '\as much as private-sector worker vaca Because of llberalfederal pensIons,' only 10% tions,cost th~ir einployers.Liberal federal of government employees eligIble to retire before leave policies add $1.3 billion in annual age sq remaIn In active servIce? .expenses. , When federal employees have worked, for three to five years, they get 20 days' vacation a year, or 3. Federal employees Jake i.6 times twIce the 10-day average In the prw,ate sector?' the' ntimber of sick days taken by their . ~ , At retirement, federal employees get cret!,1t ,pnvate sector counterparts, at an excess, toward theIr years of eligIble servIce fo, unused, sIck leave? Private sector employees get none. cost ,of$1.2 billion each year., The survey's suggestio';:s would ",' comparable to private sector salaries. But save$~.1. bilJionover three years by in most cases, the studies and t'he sys~ eliminating fringe benefits that ~xceed terns used to deteimine salanes"build in" those in the private sector, conti-oIling pay mcreases above those in the private health-plan costs, "apd trimming vacation sector. and sick-pay benefits. " The sUrveY_Rroposed422 wayliQ Federal civilian ~d, mi!itary retire-, ment systems are three times ana six . ,,',improve management of the federal timesascostly",respedively,as the best 'work force. These changes would result private plans. Federal plans allow earlier~'in three-year savings of $90. 9 billion,' retirement, offer more liberal benefits and . e.qualto the taxe's of 13.7 million medianprovide fullprotection against inflation. income families.. , "t:,,' ',.-
The cost fortutUre'clvll serillce and military retirement benefits, for.whlch no funds have been set asIde, '/5 more titan $1 trillion? In the prIvate sector, companIes are legally requIred to set funds asIde now to pay 'for futUre retirement bene-' fits. Taxpayerswould have to contribute $41 billion In each of the next 40 years (In addition to what they contrIbute for annual, benefits) to pay otfthe $1 trillion shor:tfall. And thIs would not begIn to address the $94 billion annual Increase In the unfunded liability occurring each year.
The survey suggested retirement , changes worth $60.9 billionbver three, . years. Even with these revisions, federal retirees would still receive benefits sut>e-' rior to those enjoyed by most,private sedor workers.: Fringe benefits for the government's 2.8 million ci~ employees totaled .. ' $45. 5 billion in 1982.
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Designed by Ellen Shapiro Shapiro Design Associates Inc . New Ibrl< Illustrations
by
David Saiter
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61st President The United States Jaycees
JAYCEES-
BELIEVE IN AMERICA
April 9, 1981
Dear Mr. Garrow: Today our great country stands at an economic crossroads. My integrated economic recovery package constitutes a critical step toward rebuilding America. That is why I calIon you and the members of the United States Jaycees to support this plan. with the assistance of the Jaycees and other dedicated Americans, I know that we can enact this program. It will not be easy, but we can, and must, revitalize our great nation. The Jaycees are widely known as a strong, dedicated group that can get things done. When I addressed your national convention in San Diego in 1974, I was impressed by the obvious enthusiasm and dedication of your members. America needs strong national leadership in this non-partisan effort to gain passage of my critical economic program. I am asking you to calIon your concerned Jaycees to fulfill this role. America is crying out for private-sector leadership, vision and ability. I believe your group has all three and we can, together, launch our country into a new period of prosperity, growth and freedom. Sincerely,
P .0.
Box 7
Tulsa, OK 74121
on the
ADMINISTRATION'S ECONOMIC RECOVERY PROGRAM
April 8, 1981
WHEREAS,The United States Jaycees has long believed in fiscal responsibility, and WHEREAS,this leadership training organization of more than JOO,OOO vital young men firmly believes in q nation where "economic justice can best be won by free men, through free enterprise", and WHEREAS,this organization has officially held a position calling on the federal government to balance the federal budget, and WHEREAS, The United States Jaycees is a nonpartisan organization that believes in tal.c;ingstands on critical issues facing America, and WHEREFORE,the current Administration has developed an economic plan that can drastically reduce the budget deficit by reductions in spending while maintaining necessary social programs at an acceptable level, BEITTHEREFORE RESOL YED, that The United States Jaycees hereby pledges its full support to the Administration's efforts to pass its economic pacl.c;age in its entirety.
APPROVETHEPROJECT- It is essential that the ENOUGH IS ENOUGH program be initiated immediately upon receipt ofthis I~it.lfyour Boord of Directors does not have a scheduled meeting within seven days, call a special meeting of the [3oord to discussthis project. The initial deadline for the completion of this project is June 15, so there is no time to waste. There ore at least two projects in the ENOUGH ISENOUGH program: The Petition Drive and the Letter Writing Campaign. Other potential projects ore also discussed in this I~it.Mal~e sure the Boord isaware of all possibilities and a decision is made to act immediately.
APPOINTA CHAIRMAN - The chairman of any project isthe one person who can mal~e your project a success. In selecting the chairman the local president, external vice president and director should find the most dependable member who is interested or involved in governmental affairs. When you have selected your chairman, send out a press release with his picture. Write an article for your state Jaycee magazine as well as your local Jaycee publication. Do not forget that every now and then you should give him some positive reinforcement (pat on the bacl~).
SELECT COMMITTEE A
The committee
men. Let's face it, being a co-chairman sounds more prestigious than just being a committee member. This will give each member a feeling of responsibility. Select members who will give you a representation of all the major groups in your community.
SETA GOAL - Now that you have a chairman and a committee, you need to establish the number of signatures you want to obtain with the Petition Drive and the number of responses you want to achieve in the Letter Writing Campaign. The goal should be realistic and attainable.
Once your gools are set, dates can be selected for the Petition Drive and other projects you may want to conduct. After you have decided on a date, stick with it. '
SELEa DATES -
The Reagan Economic PadllOge has passed The Se~ate and will be in I The House by mid June. Use June 15, as your final date ~or mailing letters, petitions and other correspondence. All correspondence ~hould be mailed to your U.S.Representative's district office. Do not mail directly to Washington, D.C. unless you want to also send a copy there. * While June 15, is the deadline - l"Ieep those cards and letters coming.
Second in importance to the general chairman is the publicity chairman. Public awareness and support will be vital to the success of your project. Effective publicity and good advertising will help draw crowds to petition booths at malls and shopping centers, and will mal"le a door-to-door campaign much easier. Useyour events, their theme and goals for every bit of publicity they are worth. Sit down with your publicity chairman and go over the step-by-step chain of events starting with the original announcement of the project to the mailing of the final results. Look for news angles of newsworthy names in every job that is to be done. [3e alert to stunt ideas that will mal"le good news. copy or pictures. Mal"le a list of possible feature stories, spot news items, and special worl"l sessions that offer picture possibilities. Jot down every idea you thinl"l might worl"l and then discuss them with media people. They will reject the ideas they cannot use and suggest other new ideas. Enclosed in this l"Iityou will find sample news releases, space fillers and ad prints that should be distributed throughout your community through lV, radio, newspapers, and door-to-door solicitation. Use this material in mal"ling up your final publicity schedule. Also, note carefully when copies must be in the hands of news media, and observe those deadlines.
PROGRAM PROMOTION -
CONTAaS
Contact other civic groups and organizations about signing a petition and about participating in other parts of the program with you. They may wish to help you fund the program. A list of potential resource groups is contained in this l"Iit.
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Contact every leader in your community to request their support for your efforts. Mal"le sure they realize the importance of their cooperation. Request their presence and assistance at any petition signing booth or other community activity.
FOLLOW-UP - Follow-up is something you should be doing from the very first committee meeting. [3e sure to notify co-chairmen and committee members in advance of all events. Follow-up with a phone call. Follow-up with correspondence. Have your arrangements mode in advance for your meeting place and time of events. Follow-up and attention to detail are very important. Remember to moil the "We Did Something" pages to The U.S.Jaycees as your projects are completed. To be effective, we must have a collective total of what every chapter in America has done.
CONDUCTTHEEVENT- The remainder of this section will give the chairman various ideas about how to conduct a successful project. MoI.c;e sure that you develop a checl.c;listor every aspect of the project and see to it that every f co-chairman I.c;nows specifically what he is expected to do. For example, if you are conducting a door-to-door Petition Drive, you wont to assign sections of your community to various co-chairmen who will have the responsibility of canvassing those specific areas. You will wont to develop a checklist for all these types of activities.
goal is, the issue the chapter is supporting, and what the petitions and letters will accomplish. Present your program to the chapter with enthusiasm. Gaining the support of the members is a strong step to success, because members can be a combination worl.c;crew and public relations stoff. [3e practical - Set goals your chapter can achieve. [3e informed - Make sure the members understand the objectives. Be enthusiastic - It will help recruit worl.c;ers. Be realistic - Expect extra effort, not miracles. [3e wise - Clear the projects with the chapter membership. [3e alert - Avoid conflict with a competing event. [3eware! - Checl.c;or possible local or state regulations. f Be sensible - Choose responsible committee chairmen. [3e organized - Develop a plan, a calendar, and a checl.c;list. [3e brave - AsI.c; anybody you can thinl.c;of to participate. [3e professional - Publicize and advertise your event. [3e prepared - Double-checl.c; every detail. [3e appreciative - Send prompt thanl.c;-you's to helpers. committee chairmen to submit brief summaries. [3e 0 recordl.c;eeper - AsI.c; These records are valuable.
Chairman's Checklist - A5 a general chairman, you will be responsible for planning and staging your chapter's ENOUGH 15 ENOUGH project. Choose dependable, enthusiasticworl~ersas committee-men, members who can interest others in worl~ing, and who will worl~ well with them. You will want to hold a few general committee meetings to I~eep committee-men aware of the progress of the project. Adjust and change your plans as necessary.Worl~with the publicity and manpower chairmen every step of the way to develop the full publicity potential, and to mal~e sure as many local members as possible are involved. Yourjob will be much easier, and you will have more peace of mind ifyou list each committee's responsibilities in detail. Write down everything to be done before, during, and after the event, and a deadline for completing each tasl~. After all listsare made, transfer major jobs to a master calendar. Keep A "TO DO" listwith you at all times, which boldly highlights important functions you need to monitor. Here are some suggestions to guide you in setting up your checl~lists: Site: Indoors or outdoors. Confirm date(s) and location(s) and cost, if any. Regulations: Local codes, regulations, or permits; private property usage requirements; fire, safety, health, or other regulations governing intended activities. Facilities: Tables, chairs, electrical outlets, booth siding, parl~ing, and rest rooms. Supplies: Adequate copies of petitions, sample letters. Extrapens and pencils, handouts, posters or other advertising materials (attention-getters), extension cords, paper clips, envelopes for I~eeping completed petitions, stapler and staples, thumb tacl~s,tape, paper, envelopes, stamps. Manpower: Shift listscompleted, copied and distributed, community areas assigned and scheduled. Worl~erscontacted and reminded of times signed up for. Publicity: Initial pressrelease from I~itsent out, local papers, radio and television stations notified, space fillers delivered to newspapers as soon as local project dates set, pressrelease written at each committee meeting and sent out next day. Media contacted personally and invited to booth, rally, or meetings with other groups. Clean-up: Arrangements made to clean up site; one person assigned to handle petitions, lists,and supplies. Follow-up: Thanl~you letters to committee, community leaders, and others that helped; tally and compile results;send resultsto U.s.Jaycees; mail or hand deliver petitions to Representative's district office; complete Chairman's Planning Guide and submit for National incentive; resultsreleased to local media.
LETTERWRITING CAMPAIGN
Thisproject is the preferred type of project to run when soliciting a Congressman's support for a particular measure because it comes directly from one of his constituents. If at all possible, use this project in conjunction with the Petition Drive or other projects you may choose to run.
What Is It?
A Letter Writing Campaign is nothing more than organizing the people in a community to send individual letters to Congressmen at approximately the same time. The letter writing campaign encompasses many things. It gives the writer a chance to voice his opinion and serves as a barometer to your representative when this issue is to be voted on. Encourage people to get involved and start writing those letters today!
Why Do It?
An individual letter has a tremendous impact on your Congressional representatives. The letter will state that you support the actions of the President in getting our economy bad~ on the rood to prosperity. [3ysending this letter, you are telling your Congressman that this is a critical issue in America and one of the steps that should be tal n to help rebuild America. e
Where To Go To Do It
Neighborhoods, rural areas, shopping centers, hospitals, colleges, apartment complexes, special events, businesses, church meetings, factories before wor! and downtown during lunch, street corners, etc.ln other words, anywhere that you can find an individual of voting age.
How To
Please refer to the page in this I~itmarked "Plan of Action" for the planning part of this project. In addition, here are some general guidelines specific to a Letter Writing Campaign: The letter that carries the most weight is one that is handwritten. Next is individually typed, followed by postcards and form letters. Be sure the letter is legible and not very long (one page is enough). If you use the sample letters that are in this I~it, be sure and have them retyped or rewritten so that not all the letters are the same. When writing the letter, include the writer's name, address, city, state and zip code. When addressing a Congressman, precede his name with the words "The Honorable." After the letter is drafted by the writer, be sure that the content is relative to the issue - that is, that the writer first supports the Economic Pacl~age and secondly asl~ the representative to vote "Yes" on the issue. Instead of a letter, you may use a Mailgram. There are two types: A regular Mailgram and a personal opinion message. The regular Mailgram cost is $3.20 for the first 50 words (including the signature) and 90 for the second 50 words. The personal opinion message is$3.50 for 20 words excluding the name and address. If a copy of the message isdesired, it costs an additional $1.50 per message sent. To send a Mailgram, all that you need to do is call the Western Union in your city and explain that you want a Mailgram sent. The Operator wi II asl~where you want it sent and what type of Ma ilgram you desire. Your message should be written down before you call so you have an idea of cost and will be able to dictate the letter to the Operator. NOTE: Provided in this I~it are sample letters that you can send to your representatives district office. These should not be sent to their Washington office! The impact will be greater when sent to his district office. The district manager will be able to give an accurate count to the representative on the true feelings of his constituency about this issue.
Promotion of a Letter Writing Campaign could be any of the following: Posters, space fillers (provided in this I~it), ad slicl~s,one-on-one and group promotion. The posters could be placed in store windows, bulletin boards, or any high traffic area where a poster can be placed. The space filler has multiple uses but primarily should be used in newspapers and magazines. However, any local businessmen that support this effort may want to include a copy of a space filler in his monthly statements that are sent out. Ad slicl~sshould be used in the same manner as the space fillers. The print media is about the only use for this idea. Speal~ing to people on a one-on-one basis isvery effective. You need a lot of manpower to do this, but it is a good tool for your petition booth. Group promotion basically is giving a presentation to organizations or associations in hopes of obtaining their support for this program.
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SAMPLE LEITERS
for
LEITER WRITING CAMPAIGN
DOTe
Your Nome Address Ciry. STaTe. Zip Code The Honorable DISTriCT Office (His Full Nome): Address
ciTizen. I wish ro vOice my concern for The economic affairs of We as individuals have aCTed as our governmenr has. by overeXTending ourselves TOon inralerable level. We have morTgaged our own fuTure This counrry. and Thor of generaTions TO The rebuilding TO come. Program rebuild as one ThaTis viTal Irself TO rhe mlghry for all Americans.
DOTe
I feel thaT The Time hos come TO Tal<e pOSITive STeps TO help This counrry TO One such STep ThaT I can Tal<e is to urge you ro SUppOTT
and before the House of [\epresenraTives. will do much to help The budgeT
I believe
economic when
That passage
of This compleTe
proposal
condiTiOns in our greaT country. and VOTe "yes" on The proposed on The floor. Sincerely. Your Nome
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Why Do It?
As outlined earlier in President Gib's letter and the program explanation, The United States Jaycees turned a petition in to Congress on March 21,1951, with over three million signatures of American citizens who supported the then famous "Hoover Commission Report." Thisis 1981 and once again The U.s.Jaycees has been called upon to rally the citizens of this country at the grassroots level. With chapters in over 8,000 communities, no other volunteer organization has the manpower or trained leadership to pull America behind the effort to effect Congress to pass quidc; legislation of the program for Economic Recovery. The Petition Drive project isa good project to run in that it's quicl~, produces an impact and is easily distributed. In addition, the Petition Drive isthe time-honored way our democratic society has operated and, therefore, people are familiar with this method.
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Where To Go To Do It
Neighborhoods, rural areas, shopping centers, hospitals, colleges, apartment complexes, special events, businesses, church meetings, factories before worl.c; and downtown during lunch, street corners, ete.ln other words, anywhere that you can find on individual of voting age. NOTE: [3e sure to checl.c; our local lows about signing petitions in restricted y areas such as: apartment complexes, private property, shopping molls, ete. Also checl.c; ith local officials to get their ol.c;ayto set up rood blocl.c;s rallies. Do not do w or anything that would embarrass your chapter.
How To
Refer to the sheet in this I.c;it arl.c;ed "Plan of Action." m
NOTE: [3esure each individual voter signs the petition regardless of how many
reside at the some address. Don't have them sign "Mr. & Mrs."
2.
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THE UNITED STATES JAYCEES CITIZENS PETITION FOR: "THE PROGRAM FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY"
unemployment, cost of living, taxes, and high interest rates have reached epidemic proportions, and, WHEREAS, expanding government is fanning inflation through endless deficits and strangling economic growth through excessive taxes.
WHEREAS,
WE, the voting citizens of "Grassroots America," from the U.S.congressional district of , do hereby DIREG the Congress of The United States to effect prompt and swift legislation to pass The Economic Recovery Program, for the good of America and Americans.