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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 1007439, member: 57463&quot;]Good advice. I created an organization -- The Institute for the Study of Consequences -- and registered the d/b/a with my county clerk.&nbsp; I have run for office and been elected to office and been appointed to office.&nbsp; Rants go nowhere. &quot;You have a problem and I demand that you fix it&quot; is not a plan.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>While government action can seem (and often be) arbitrary if not capricious, the fact is that the US government has 200 years of experience at this.&nbsp; They take money seriously. Changing their collective minds on this requires more than shouting from your window.&nbsp; You need facts.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>In fact -- speaking of facts -- a lobbyist&#039;s status derives from the quality of the information they bring.&nbsp; When an elected representative is called to answer for a vote, facts carry weight.&nbsp; Ideology can get in the way, but generally, on a technical issue, your opponents will at least acknowledge the validity of your choice, even as they offer their own.&nbsp; But you need facts.</p><p><br /></p><p>Writing to &quot;Congress&quot; is a waste of time.&nbsp; Huge organizations swing national issues from the local level.&nbsp; They have people in districts.&nbsp; Each district is a decision point.&nbsp; <b>All politics is local.</b>&nbsp; Unless you vote in a district, the representative has no compelling reason to care about your opinion.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Currently, we are all looking at filing 1099 tax forms on every purchase over $600.&nbsp; (This was a detail in the Big Health Care Act.)&nbsp; Now, ICTA, the ANA and others are fighting it. They are doing so at the local level, asking their members to contact their representatives.</p><p><br /></p><p>One exception is the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild, which has targeted Senate committees and subcommittees on imports and exports of antiquities.&nbsp; Here, too, though, the effort is focused and concentrated, reasoned and funded for that level of engagement.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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