I was one of some 300 tax activists from around the country attending the recent taxpayer conference held in Washington last weekend June 11-13, 2009. The program was excellent, the speakers outstanding. The Libertarian Party was one of about a dozen exhibitors.
Fittingly, one speaker presented the depths of despair, another gave hope. Former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, now CEO of the Peterson Foundation, lamented a Federal deficit of $1.8 trillion and, longer-term, unfunded obligations for Medicare and Social Security of $56.4 trillion. At the state level, 42 of the 50 have “major fiscal challenges.” Because political reform will be needed to tackle the Federal structural imbalances, he urges reforms in the areas of redistricting, campaign finance reform, and term limits. Then, “we’ve got to renegotiate the social contract.”
The optimist was writer John Fund, opinionjournal.com (whose message, however, conflated responsible government with Republican rule, a debatable point). He said the GOP was even more ‘minority’ at times during the Carter and Clinton presidencies, yet their failures led to huge rebounds for the Republicans. If Obama’s program does not prove successful, the GOP can make big gains in 2010, so don’t despair.
The most helpful sessions for me, however, were the practical ones, including:
- Building effective e-mail lists
- New media resources
- Building an effective grassroots organization
All three were run by the Leadership Institute, whose mission is to train leaders for conservative causes (www.leadershipinstitute.org).
Key points: Your group’s web site should use lots of forms (to involve readers); also polls and petitions. Add value to your e-mails, e.g. a link to a late-breaking news item. Use the many new social networking tools: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, UTube, Flickr, Blogger, WordPress. Local blogs can easily become sources to search engines. It’s no longer just the written word; everything is going to video. And by 2012, everything will be on mobile.
An excellent session on fundraising for political causes and campaigns was led by three experienced consultants. To raise money, start with your Christmas card list (if your grandmother can’t be persuaded to contribute, how will anyone else?). Especially important: research your prospects before you approach them, and always ask for a specific donation. Two books recommended were “Forces for Good,” and (I love this title) “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty: The Only Networking Book You’ll Ever Need.”
There were four general sessions and nine breakout sessions on Friday and one general and nine breakouts on Saturday morning. An awesome program for the $129 registration fee. This annual conference is run by the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), www.ntu.org.
