COPs on the Hill: Stories from the week of March 25, 2011

Your Voice in the United States Congress

Door to door salesman I am:  Finally I hit my stride* this week, as the House was in recess.  Between scheduled appointments and going door to door, I made 35 presentations.  Almost all were new Tea Party offices whose staffers were often eager to hear a message of a policy employing the 10^th Amendment and did not require money.

This week I had to retire my trusty briefcase which after five years and nearly 2,000 presentations to Congressional offices simply broke.   I have a good feeling that I won’t need a third.  I had fair number people ask if my briefcase contained free samples, perhaps due to its larger size.  J  My third set of boot leather will last thru the summer.

Tombstones* in their eyes:   A staffer commented this week that since January many of the 33,000 lobbyists in DC were coming into his office with a dullness on their face.  Yes, they make the pitch* for money but they know that most often they will come away with nothing.   Per the staffer, they are just going thru the motions. 

On the other hand..:  A staffer I have known for four years now works for one of the new R offices.  Besides our good chat, he gave me the name and contact info of a Texas state legislator whom he believes to be a good resource on building support for the 10^th Amendment-based marijuana bill we should see this spring.   This is just one example (amongst many)  of how staffers are helping COPs succeed.

Marketing tool:  At the bottom is the jacket which has sparked so many chats this winter.   A guy at the train station asked why and later wanted a foto of it… he was kind enough to send me a copy.

Personal note:  This week the Democratic Party asked me for support in 2012.   The drug policy portion of my reply letter at the very bottom.  The other areas I mentioned were the wars in Afghanistan and Libya.

*hit my stride = im Gang setzen

*tombstones – Grabstein

*pitch = Verkaufstaktik

COPs 2nd year stats to date:

 TV appearances: 11 (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable) 

Newspaper stories: 7 dailes, 3 weeklies

Radio appearances: 7 

Published LTE: 13  (one this week)

Other media (bloggers, cable TV, minor publications, etc): 9

 127 presentations to Congressional staffers: (35 this week)

8 (Member of Congress) contacts:    (one this week)

5 other VIP (MD state Senator & Rep):   

Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year.   All contributions are tax-deductible.   Your support keeps the COPs voice loud and strong in the halls of the United States Congress.   We agree that Modern Prohibition/War on Drugs is the most destructive, dysfunctional and immoral policy since slavery & Jim Crow.  Go to: www.CitizensOpposingProhibition.org and click on Donate/Join – by credit card or send a check to:

COP

POB 772

Buckeystown, MD  21717

Dear Mr. President,

To put me back on the horse and work for your re-election, you will have to begin to show leadership in the following areas:

#1 domestic public policy disaster:  Drug Prohibition/War on Drugs – How many Mexicans must die for our prohibition?  You have so little compassion for that country.   72 billion spent every year and nothing to show for it.  Your new DEA head is anti-science and defies your directive to allow states with medical cannabis laws to live free from DEA arrests.   How does my grandson compete with China with so much spent on prisons & cops?  You admit the policy is an “utter failure” and yet do nothing.  Pitiful.

Howard