Mogulogic

Yesterday I was chatting with my friend Micheal Savoie (@MichealSavoie on Twitter) about Washington planning to spend another $850 billion in the “The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009″ (aka: the “Porkulus Package.”) One comment Michael had was “We can only do what we can do… until we become big enough to make a difference!”

Well that made me realize that many entrepreneurs who want to make a difference, but don’t know what they can do.

When faced with a massive issue like we have now with the Stimulus package being pushed through Congress, they ask “what can I do?” It’s especially hard since as busy business owners we’re all trying to run and grow our companies, so time is limited.

Well here are three steps where you can make a difference in less than 5-minutes!

STEP 1:

Go to http://readthestimulus.org to see what is included in the Porkulus Package. You can even search the 1,600 pages of the document by keyword. (Some fun ones sure to make your toes curl with anger on how your money will be doled out are: grants, infrastructure, neighborhood stabilization & taxes.)

OK, well I could be off with the 5-minute estimate if you really start doing some digging here in step 1 to see what REALLY is buried in the Porkulus Package. But just looking at some of the charts on the home page should be enough to reinforce what you already know — that this “stimulus” package is a bad idea for us as entrepreneurs, and for the economy as a whole.

Step 2:

Go to the listing of US Senators. Use the web form provided for your Senator to contact them letting them know what you think of the Porkulus Package.

What do you say? Here’s a simple template to model:

Dear Senator _______,

I am writing to strongly urge you to vote against the The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. It is filled with pork and wasteful spending that will further damage an already weakened economy.

Instead I strongly urge you to vote FOR a reduction in taxes to individuals and families to truly make a relief impact on “main street.” History has proven that tax-cuts increase tax revenues so there is the positive impact of reducing the budget deficits with a tax cut vs. increasing the deficits by $850 billion-plus with the The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Sincerely,

__________________

STEP 3:

Go to the US House of Representatives to find your Congressional Representative. Call the phone number provided and ask to speak with your Representative. Most likely you will not get to speak directly with them, but use the following script as a guide in speaking with whatever member of their staff you have on the phone.

Representative __________, I’m calling to strongly urge you to vote against the The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. I’ve done my research and it is filled with wasteful spending that will further damage an already weakened economy. Instead I strongly urge you to vote FOR a reduction in taxes to individuals and families to truly make a relief impact on “main street.”

That’s it. I took those 3 steps this morning and steps 2 & 3 took me less than 5-minutes. As entrepreneurs and business owners we must make our voices heard.

We are all busy running and growing our businesses, but 5-minutes to at least know that you made your voice heard in Washington is a pittance compared to the hundreds of extra hours per year you are going to have to work to make up for the added burdens this Porkulus Package will place on us if passed.