Dear Readers, Long-time LPVA member and activist Roy Scherer has come up with an idea to help educate our legislators.
Please join him in this effort! ********************************************* Constitution for sale! By Roy Scherer Dear folks - Well, I hope that got your attention . . . Actually, this is about BUYING multiple copies of the Constitution, and then giving them away. I think we have an opportunity to do something effective this summer and fall. Let me lay it out and see what you think. The CATO Institute has an ad in the current issue of REASON, offering their very fine booklet containing both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in the current issue of REASON. Many of us already have at least one copy of this, and know that it's very well-produced. "The elegant faux-leather cover with gold-foil stamped lettering ensures the lasting quality of this American treasure and makes it the perfect gift." For once, I think the ad has it right. Each of our legislators could benefit by having their very own copy -- and the LP would benefit from the media coverage resulting from publicly giving each of them a copy. One of the missions of the Libertarian Party is to educate both the public in general and the legislators/executives in particular as to the limits of governmental authority. In my (none-too) humble opinion, this would be a good step in that direction. There are 140 current members of the General Assembly, plus an as-yet-unknown number of new members after the November elections. A mere $180 will provide a copy for each of these, AND for each of our Senators and Congresscritters, with leftovers for future distribution. That's a minimum plan. There would be additional costs for printing a cover letter, and press releases, and delivery. (Were we to delay the delivery until the first day or few of the Assembly session, the delivery could be done by one or more volunteers, with no cash outlay from the LP.) There are other options, progressively reaching more legislators but costing more. I think that it's best to do this minimal project first, and guage the results. If there's overwhelming support for this, then possibly we could consider one of the options covered in the "P.S." after my signature below. For now, I'd like to know whether or not there's support for the 200-copy option. I'm not trying to get LPVA to fund this project, of course, though it would be nice if the organization would provide authorization and a cover letter from LPVA. If not, of course, it's entirely within our traditions and principles for this to be done entirely by an ad hoc group. I could chip on that project, miserable pauper though I am. What say you all? -- For Freedom, -- Roy P.S. ** PRICES ** Here are the prices from CATO. It's also possible that they'd be willing to cut us an additional per-copy break if sufficiently wheedled. Order Each Minimum 1-9 copies @ $4.95 $ 4.95 10-99 copies @ $1.00 $ 10.00 100-499 copies @ $0.90 $ 90.00 500-999 copies @ $0.80 $400.00 1000+ copies @ $0.75 $750.00 200 copies -- $180 -- will provide for the following: 140 - members of General Assembly of Virginia 2 - US Senators from Virginia 11 - US House of Representatives from Virginia 47 - Reserve for newly-elected people, and for sale at events (@$1.00) 500 copies -- $400 -- would save us 10 cents a copy, and provide copies for the legislators above, with 347 extra copies. In addition to new electees, these could be could be provided at cost for local groups or individuals to persent (always with maximal publicity!) to their local legislators (city council, boards of supervisors, etc.); any not so used could be either sold or given away at meetings and events. Also, the extra $220 would mean that the additional 300 copies would each cost only 73 1/3 cents each, which would allow continuing the project through the next several election cycles with no further purchases. Questions? Email "Roy B. Scherer" <[email protected]> or call (804) 382-5411. Send checks to: Roy Scherer 529 High Street Petersburg, VA 23803-3859 ********************************************* -- end -- ############################################################# Have an announcement you'd like to post? SCC members & many committee heads are all authorized to post; or you may send your announcements to the List Master: <[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected]?subject=Announcement>. ############################################################# Unsubscribe: Send an email to [email protected] with no subject and "Unsubscribe Announce" as the text. ############################################################# Libertarian Party of Virginia http://www.LPVA.com Phone: 703-715-6230 ############################################################# Want to see past messages? Check the Archive: http://www.Mail-Archive.com/[email protected]/ #############################################################
