"http://www.discus.org/economics/
in reality if we all want this we need to find away to pay them off thats a lot a tax monies and i am sure they are thinking dont rock the boat"

I found the story mentioned above online at http://www.dallasnews.co...radar-in-dallas-area.ece

Rick

Hokey,
Super idea. If everyone does the same thing we certainly should get some traction out of it. I could not open it without a subscription - how did you do it?
Alli

it worked for me to

Just received a letter from William Keating, member of House of Representatives in MA. Form letter no doubt, however. It read as follows.

"Thank you for your letter expressing your concerns regarding legislation pertaining to home distilleries. I appreciate hearing from people who have concerns or questions regarding any and all legislations that might come before the US House of Representatives.

However, your concerns are perhaps best addressed to those legislators who represent West Bridgewater in the Congress. In the Senate you are represented by Senators Warren and Markey; and in the House your representative is Stephen Lynch. I have listed office addresses and telephone numbers for each of these legislators below: addresses followed.

Thank you again for contacting my office on this issue."

I have already sent packets to those addresses.

At least someone got back to me. Whether he represents my district or not.

Still keeping my fingers crossed.

Hokey,
I will put a note on the tracking sheet that William Keating sent copies to Warren, Markey and Lynch. As you can see from the tracking report, they had already been sent copies so maybe this will reinforce the previous contacts. I suggest that you wait few days -a week at most - and start calling their respective offices to inquire if they got the packages from the other congressmen/women. Inter-congressional mail should only take a day.

Our first letters went out in July just before the break. Those packages have probably been buried under everything else that has come in since then so it is time to call the offices directly and ask them to exhume the not dead proposals. I sent a package to Robert Wittman in July, emailed him in September and finally called his office yesterday. He is my congressman, I voted for him and if he wants my vote again, someone in his office is going to respond to my letters.

There is no question that the interest in this effort (from my perspective) has dropped way off. Part of this may be due to the lack of responses from our elected officials. If we really want this to happen we have got to be persistent. These guys are squeaky wheels that need a dab of grease. We can't take no response for an answer. It is time to get just a tiny bit mad and follow-up with these guys and girls. Remember, there is absolutely nothing in this for them. It is up to us to get it across to them that there is something in it for US, the folks they were supposedly elected to represent.

Yesterday I sent basically the same letter I sent to John Stossel at FNF to the Richmond Times Dispatch. It went to the editor who emailed me back to say it did not qualify as a letter to the editor so it was sent to the news department. I don't care if he sent it to the women's shoes department as long as someone reads it and at least calls/emails me back.

When we do get this thing rolling in Congress, all you guys owe me a bottle of Crown Royal XR. One of the things I used to tell my direct reports was, "things don't just happen because you want them to, you have to make them happen'! Keep the faith and let's go make it happen. alli



7/27/2013 Senator Elizabeth Warren
7/27/2013 Congressman Ed Markey - 5th Dist.
7/27/2013 Congressman Steven Lynch - 8th Dist.
9/18/2013 Senator Thomas Kennedy - 4th Dist.
9/18/2013 Congressman Bill Keating

Biscuit,
Keep us informed. Thanks for the grease. Alli

"Howdy,
For all of those interested in legalizing our hobby, I have attached the latest update of the Congressional Tracking Report. Progress is slow but we are making progress. One of the things we need desperately is awareness. Not just in the hobby distilling world, but in the rest of society. A member has contacted the owner of a major beer brewing company, not because the owner is a distiller, but because he might know someone who knows someone who can help our effort. That is the kind of out of the box thinking we need. The CEO of ADI, American Distiller Institute, is on our side and wants to help. Other still manufacturers/suppliers besides Brewhaus are looking at ways to get our proposal in front of Congress.

For those who have not contacted their congressmen/women it is not too late. Every contacts helps raise awareness to our cause. I have found that it is not enough to simply send a letter and/or an email and forget it. Every congressman/woman has local offices in their respective states and those offices are staffed with constituent representatives. These folks are paid to listen to you. I have been told numerous times that most people walk into a congressman's office with an idea in their head - that's all, just an idea. We have so much more than that. Our proposal is very well written, it's simple and easy to understand. It blows them away. Find the office near you, call them and make an appointment or just drop in. Hand them a copy of the proposal and spend a few minutes explaining why they should read it and support it. You do not have to admit being a distiller. They are certainly not going to call the TTB on you for wanting to change an 80 year old law.

I hate being compared to the pot lobby because our cause is completely different, however they have something we do not; recognition! We are never going to get that recognition unless we talk it up to people who might be able to help. Send me your contacts, regardless of who they are and I will add them to the list.

Alli"

Sent the proposal to my reps in the Frozen Tundra of Wisconsin.

fatboi83,
Thanks for the support. Would you mind disclosing the names of the reps you sent our package to and the dates they were sent. I would like to be able to add them to the Tracking Report.

Thanks again. Alli