Subject:
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"emergency becomes a *disaster.*"
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 1 Nov 2001 09:06:37 GMT
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Viewed:
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146 times
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Is disaster an overused word these days? Take a read of this:
==+==
On Tuesday, we got a smattering of First Class mail, which the Post
Office is now routing through Virginia and Maryland to avoid their
anthrax-tainted facilities in Washington, DC. We got a dozen envelopes,
a few magazines, and a few bills.
However, in the last eight days, we have received *ZERO* Business Reply
Envelopes (BREs), which a vast majority of LP members use to mail in
contributions.
Those BREs are processed through the Brentwood Post Office, which is
still in lock-down mode. Brentwood handled the anthrax-contaminated
envelope that was sent to Capitol Hill.
Because of the high risk of contamination, 68 tons of backlogged mail
in Brentwood is now being trucked to a special site in Ohio, where it
will be irradiated to kill the anthrax spores. The first trucks
departed on Friday.
Post Office officials say they "expect" to irradiate and deliver all
that mail within two weeks. It could be longer.
But we can't afford to wait two more weeks.
Yesterday's First Class mail brought in just $494.45 in memberships,
renewals, and literature orders. That's a far cry from the $7,000 a day
we need to keep functioning.
The good news: Libertarians have begun to respond to this emergency.
Our October 26 e-mail appeal brought in $18,476.73 in donations. Thank
you!
The bad news: Only 314 people contributed.
That means 34,536 people on our e-mail list did not.
If you are one of those 34,536 people, I must ask you again: Can you
help the Libertarian Party get through this emergency?
As I mentioned last week, our limited cash reserves are quickly
evaporating. In fact, they are all but gone.
Eight days without mail means we are $56,000 in the red.
Subtract from that the $18,000 our e-mail appeal brought in (and the
few hundred from the trickle of envelopes), and we're $38,000 in the
hole.
That's a mighty big hole for a small party. And the Post Office is
digging that hole deeper.
If we don't get any BREs for another two weeks -- as the Post Office
suggested-- we could be $100,000 behind on our bills.
If that happens, then this emergency becomes a *disaster.*
Even worse, it means we could break our word to our vendors -- the
large and small companies we do business with.
As Libertarians, we respect contracts. Our contract is our word. And
our word is our honor.
We promised our vendors -- our printer, the companies we lease
equipment from, our clipping service, our attorneys, the folks who
maintain our website -- that we would pay them the money we owe them.
We want to keep that promise.
We have $38,000 in bills due at the end of the month. *Today.*
We need to get checks in the mail to those vendors immediately. If we
can mail those checks by Friday, we'll make those payments within the
"grace" period.
Can you help us?
If you contribute just $25, it will help. If *every* person who gets
this e-mail does so, we'll be in a solid financial position. We'll be
able to survive long enough for the Post Office to start delivering our
mail again.
Let me stress the urgency: I just got a telephone call from National LP
Chairman Jim Lark.
When I briefed him about our crisis, he immediately made a $5,000
contribution.
$5,000! Listen, Jim isn't a rich man. Professionally, he's a college
professor. He doesn't get paid as LP National Chair; he's a volunteer.
But he's still willing to make an emergency contribution of $5,000 to
help his party.
Personally, I can't afford $5,000. But I also can't ask our members to
do something I'm not willing to do.
So, today my wife and I contributed $1,000 to the party.
Can *you* join us, and contribute what you can?
$25, $50, or $100 will make all the difference.
Are you one of the 34,536 people who did not respond to our first
appeal? I'm sure you had a good reason for not doing so.
Perhaps you meant to make a donation, but got busy with something else.
Perhaps you thought the crisis would abate. Perhaps you had other bills
to pay.
I understand that. But I hope you understand that it's my job to ask
you again-- because you're the one hope we have to keep the LP office
functioning.
Your support will get us through this crisis. It will allow us to pay
our phone bills and the fee for our Pitney-Bowes postage meter. Keep
our website up and running. Pay for our computer leases. Keep our faxed
press releases streaming out.
Those aren't glamorous bills. Nobody ever sent us a donation and wrote:
"Use this to pay for the Pitney-Bowes postage meter!"
But those bills -- and the services and equipment they pay for -- are
the wheels and cogs that keep the machinery of the Libertarian Party
running.
Fundraising experts say no one makes a contribution to pay for "boring"
bills. Last week, 314 Libertarians proved them wrong.
But by Friday, we need to pay more "boring" bills. We gave our word. We
are Libertarians. We honor our debts.
Your help today -- your emergency online contribution -- will let us
pay those bills. To contribute, please go to:
http://www.lp.org/contribute?prog=nomail
Your donation will *immediately* be put to work to get us out of the
financial hole caused by the Anthrax Mail Embargo.
We've got a secure server, so your credit card number and personal
information are 100% safe.
Again, thank you for your support. Your actions, right now, will define
what it means to be a Libertarian.
Steve Dasbach
Libertarian Party National Director
PS: Not comfortable making a credit card payment over the Internet?
Give Dianne a call at (202) 333-0008 Ext. 231. She'll take your credit
card information over the phone.
PPS: I received an e-mail on Friday from a woman who contributed $15 to
our last appeal. She's not a party member (and asked us to keep her
name confidential), but wrote that she finds the Libertarian Party's
message "honest and forthright."
She wished she could donate more than $15, she wrote, but wanted "to do
my small part, and I hope others will as well."
When I read her message, I was speechless. She wasn't a Libertarian
Party member! But she donated anyway.
In part, her message inspired my wife and I to make our $1,000
donation.
Why? Because we couldn't stand by while a non-LP member did more than
we did to help our party. Frankly, I couldn't look at myself in the
mirror if I let that happen.
Hopefully, you feel the same way.
If you are a party member, could you match her $15 donation? Or give a
little more? It would make all the difference.
==+==
When I read this, I had two thoughts:
1. Why so little compassion for the postal workers and their families?
Perhaps they do not fit the LP member profile?
2. Why is the LP's bank not willing to help them through this? If all the
cheques are simply delayed, what is the big deal?
Scott A
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: "emergency becomes a *disaster.*"
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| (...) <snipped> (...) scare mongering perhaps? maybe LP greed? <quote> "And the Post Office is digging that hole deeper." </quote> I wonder what the LP parties response would be if they got tainted mail? Would they still blame the post office? (...) (23 years ago, 4-Nov-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: "emergency becomes a *disaster.*"
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| (...) I've just had an update from LP HQ. They are now only waiting on donations from a further 34,163 LP members. If those 34,163 members dig deep perhaps a "disaster"{1} can be avoided. Why don’t they just tell their creditors “the cheque is in (...) (23 years ago, 7-Nov-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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