When You Have Way Too Much Money & Time

Normally, I don’t really follow sports.  I figure it says something that we’re willing to pay multi-million dollar contracts to watch other’s play a game.  Even if we don’t go to the game, we still pay.  Because the player’s salary is passed on to the television stations for broadcast rights, who in turn recover the cost through advertising rates, and guess who pays for the marketing campaign?  That’s right…you and me…every time we go to the grocery store.

But come on…what does it say when a player can afford to have his head replicated in diamonds and gold?  Ask Marquis Daniels – especially since this new little “look-at-me-I’m-rich” trinklet has 2.9 POUNDS of 14 Karet gold

Guess the price of Doritos is going to go up again.

Old-Man-Tex

Massachussetts Miracle Repeat (Part Three) PROJECT: Keep George First

Alright..hopefully, you have read the first two blogs (Part One – the potential in FaceBook, and mobilizing it, Part Two – PROJECT: Make Change Work).

Really, I’m not one to tell you what order to read these in, but it might make more sense if you start with Part One.  if not, at least read Part Two!)

Now.. in my previous entry, I wrote about PROJECT: Make Change Work.  That’s a one time “Money Bomb”.  Which, no doubt, will have as big an impact as however many people get behind it and decide to set up a coin jar.  (Hint, hint, this is another reason we’re going to want you to share the FaceBook page with as many people as you can).

But a one time “Money Bomb” is just that – one time.  How about coming up with something with a little bit more frequency?  And that’s the idea behind PROJECT: Remember George First.

The idea is a simple one – George Washington was first, a Patriot.  He was the first President.  And, as Henry Lee said – “first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen”.   So…naturally, George would be a good choice for something symbolic…. something to represent a project aimed at giving certain incumbents the boot.

By now, you’ve read PROJECT Make Change Work.  Well…this works on a similar plan.  Take a look at your household, count the number and then dedicate $1 for each person.  And then on the first of the month, pick a candidate who’s fighting to replace an incumbent, and then go to the candidate’s web site and donate those $1 bills.

It might not sound like much…$4…. what can $4 do?  Well..take a FaceBook group like “Impeach Nancy Pelosi” that has 59,000 fans (and grows by 500+ quite rapidly).  Now, imagine if 50,000 were to donate $4 to John Dennis, her current challenger.  Wow – $200,000 right there.

But if that still doesn’t sound like much, remember…there are NINE (9) more months where the 1st will still roll around! So, that $200 can quickly become $1.8 MILLION.

And don’t forget… SEIU has already spent 30+Million… do you think they want to watch their investment get the boot?  If we are serious about wanting change – we better get to working on removing key members of the leadership team.  (I’m considering going “Lincoln” for every member of my family.  Maybe even Andrew Jackson”).

So pick someone – someone who HAS to go!  And help them get the message…. that they ignored us for too long, so now they’re fired!

Log on – check out the FaceBook Group – I don’t think you are going to regret it!

Old-Man-Tex  (and don’t forget – help others find the site as well so they can Remember George First!!)

Quick Link to FaceBook Group

Massachusetts Miracle Repeat (Part Two) – PROJECT: Make Change Work

Ok… Hopefully you have read (Part One) first.

The idea I was writing about there, was to find a “Meme” which bloggers and FaceBook fans could get behind and help build the momentum.

Now think about this…. elections are more than speeches.  It’s more than just television ads.  There’s also the phone banks, the printers for the yard signs, the booths at every event one can think about.  But bottom line… elections takes money.

The SEIU has already shown they are willing to spend 33+ million dollars.  Do you REALLY think they are going to sit back and watch the power they’ve bought and paid for get defeated by something as silly as an election?

So…it’s time to mobilize.  And I’m not talking about sending the GOP more money.  No telling what they will do with it.  They’ve refused to get behind the election in NY, and just about missed the boat with Scott Brown.   I’d hate to see a lot of good money go towards someone just because they have (R).

But on the other hand…most everyone who’s frustrated, they know what we need.  We need CHANGE.  B-O talked about change, and we’re all pretty much convinced the change he was talking about was what he wants to leave us after he takes as many dollars as he can.  And most everyone frustrated has a fair amount of common sense – otherwise, why would our Founding Fathers have believed in the common man enough to give him the power to vote?

So…here’s the suggestion.  “PROJECT: Make Change Work” is just that – something we all can do with our pocket change.

Simply take an old coffee can, or fruit jar, and start putting your pocket change in it.  Go one step farther – put a big label “November” on it, so you remember exactly why you’re collecting your change.

And then, during the time right before the election, take it to one of the coin machines, and get it converted to hard dollars.  There you go – you now have a nice little amount you can contribute to a candidate.  And not just any candidate – but an incumbent who’s failure to be re-elected will send a message to B-O that he’s next.  (maybe, Reid, Dodd, or Boxer… and don’t forget 42 of the 49 Democrats are in defense mode as well!)

In my earlier post, I noted how one FaceBook page like O.B.A.M.A has over 600,000 fans and is growing every day.  If you’re like me, I tend to have about a dollar’s worth of change at the end of the day.  After 8 more months, that would be $200.

Now imagine what it would be like if 600,000 came together and started promoting PROJECT: Make Change Work.  At 200$ – even if only a third of the people got involved – we’re looking at $40 million.

So..get out your can…mark it November…and start telling everyone about the idea.  I’ve even set up a FaceBook Group page so more people can know about it.

Let’s make group grow!

Old-Man-Tex  (and don’t forget to read Part Three)

FaceBook Group for PROJECT Make Change Work (Link provided)

Massachusetts Miracle Repeat (Part One)

They say it couldn’t be done – the seat belonged to the Democrats.  But Scott Brown surprised everyone.   I know we all want to see it happen again, and the Democrats want nothing more for it to be a fluke.  So the big question is – can this be repeated?

Was this because Coakley was a poor candidate?  Was it because B-O did such a horrible job stumping for her?  Well, let me tell you what I think made a tremendous difference – the internet.

See, before Christmas, the GOP had pretty much did all but write Brown off because the conventional wisdom was there was no chance, so why throw good money into the campaign?  But then a handful of bloggers (LegalInsurrection – which I think took the lead), did all they could to work towards building up the name recognition.  And not just tout the name – but to encourage everyone to send a few dollars his way.  So, by the time the idea of a money bomb came up, and the blogosphere went to work… well..the rest is history.

So…back to my first question – can this be repeated?

Well… I remember once having a sociology professor once tell me that if I wanted to put my finger on what the customer’s wanted – then head to the mall.  A quick look at the parking lot would tell me a lot, and so would sitting in the food court watching.   One could learn a lot on what people thought was the “it” they wanted.

FaceBook is like the mall.  Only there, I’m not actually “seeing” people – what I am getting is that much better.  I’m getting a quick peek at what they think is important, and how they feel.

How about this?

O.B.A.M.A (One Big A** Mistake America) has 613,000 fans.  And it’s growing about 3-6,000 per day.  And then there’s a whole list of other groups like “nObama” with 59,000 and growing about 500-1,000 per day.

So…the mood is there… the question is this: can we do something with it?  We’re not going to be able to “organize” because a majority of these people are tired of “organizations”.  But what if there was a way to mobilize the growing numbers?   What if there was something everyone could do on their own, and still be able to capture the sense of working on something greater than what one person could do on their own?

What if there was a way to do this, and get a repeat of Massachusetts?

Such as…. a viral idea… a meme…

Look and my next two posts (Massachusetts Miracle Repeat – Part Two and Part Three).  I’m hoping it will be worth your time!

Old-Man-Tex

White House Residence is “News Free Zone”

I’ll give Michelle credit – keep the house “News Free”, if for any reason, for the daughters.  Their dad is getting raked over the coals.  But that’s not a reason for toning back on the criticism.

During Hukabee’s interview, she told him “she tries to stay away from news because she wants to forumulate her own opinions based on her experiences.”

Wow- does that sound enlightened?  In other words, “I don’t base my opinion on what talking heads like Beck, Hannity, and Limbaugh tell me”.  Is that what she’s saying?

And just how does one go about forming an opinion, unless one stays informed?  Especially to counter arguments? (In other words, “Marching Orders for Left: Don’t let your opinion be based on information which might change your opinion).

I’m not going to say anything about their house being “News Free”, when they spend so much time courting the news, and trying to appear on the cover of Vogue. (Whoops, forgot about things like that, huh Michelle?)

But I definitely like her comment about B-O spending a lot of time surfing the political blogs.  My advice – find some new sites.  Maybe mine?  Because I will be more than willing to tell you how far off base you are.

Old-Man-Tex