Please Donate to the ECA

[LaceyUnderall]

Thank you for those who support the ECA. Honestly, I can tell you we are doing all that we can. One thing that has been accomplished is if you were able to see a copy of Bill Godshall's email, he listed all of the amendments that were proposed to the Kennedy Bill and one of them was a carveout for the ecig as presented by Senator Coburn.

We are still waiting on final word if that amendment was accepted or not and even if it wasn't there is still a chance that it could be added. So we are definitely going to fight that one till the end.

To address Kate51's request for a schedule, there just simply isn't one. Every day something new must be addressed and that may result in a different course of action. For instance, the ECA was on one path and then SE sued the FDA! At first, we were also concerned that the Waxman bill would be what needed defeating and then Kennedy did present his bill. Now, personally, I find it very interesting that a democrat, Kay Hagan, did not vote for the bill in committee which means it is very possible she could put the Kennedy bill on Secret Hold as the Kennedy bill would have repercussions for her tobacco growing state. So that is definitely an avenue to pursue. Also, there is still a chance for a filibuster.

The bottom line is there are tons of different things happening and all that we can do as consumers is continue to write our letters, do our research, and funnel ideas to the ECA to see what, if anything can be done with those ideas... and trust me, every good idea I see roll through this forum (even the half thought out ones) I know NYCSublimeGirl and I are forwarding those on. No stone is being left unturned and no option is being ignored.

Yes. The ECA does need money. That money will go towards ensuring that our ideas are explored and the ones that could work are utilized and acted upon. It is with great hope that the many suppliers there are, will realize how important it is to participate so that they too, no matter how small their business is, can participate in the market once the dust settles. With suppliers on board, there is less need for donations from consumers but for now, we need everything we can get so we can at least have a fighting chance. The tobacco and pharmaceutical lobbyists have years on us... but that doesn't mean that we can't change what may look like is set in stone. It's been done before.

 

[JustJulie]

Well, I put my money where my mouth is, and I made my donation. Not a huge sum by any stretch of the imagination, but I intend to make similar donations to ECA over the coming months.

I am passionate about my right to vape, and I want it to remain legal and easily accessible. I want others to learn about electronic cigarettes because I sincerely believe that electronic cigarettes have literally saved my life. I don't want to go underground and I don't want to play games . . . I simply want to be able to continue to vape.

I will continue to write letters to my congressmen, the FDA, the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, etc. . . . but I figure that a modest contribution to the ECA won't break me, and it very well may help the cause of keeping e-cigs legal.

No, I wouldn't make a donation to the NFL, but no one is threatening to make football illegal.

I'm happy to throw my lot in with reputable suppliers. Our interests may not be 100% in alignment on every single issue, but it's close enough for this particular battle.

 

[Babachoo]

You know, if the ECA people could actually come into this thread and address some of the questions that Kate and I have raised, I would actually consider volunteering my time and brainstorming to the effort if I could just see SOME signs of organization and direction.

Money could buy thinktanks. But you could get the same thing from an educated volunteer group if you could just get your stuff together and answer our questions. If you can't answer tough questions from people who are actually FOR your cause, how do you expect to face down OPPONENTS whom will probably have much tougher questions than people like myself and Kate? Please marinate on that for a little bit. Hopefully you'll turn things around before a lot of us lose interest and permanently stamp a seal of disapproval on your organization. Be thorough and answer all of our questions and you may get something worth much more than a cash donation.

 

[tescela]

You know, if the ECA people could actually come into this thread and address some of the questions that Kate and I have raised, I would actually consider volunteering my time and brainstorming to the effort if I could just see SOME signs of organization and direction.

Money could buy thinktanks. But you could get the same thing from an educated volunteer group if you could just get your stuff together and answer our questions. If you can't answer tough questions from people who are actually FOR your cause, how do you expect to face down OPPONENTS whom will probably have much tougher questions than people like myself and Kate? Please marinate on that for a little bit. Hopefully you'll turn things around before a lot of us lose interest and permanently stamp a seal of disapproval on your organization. Be thorough and answer all of our questions and you may get something worth much more than a cash donation.

Your tone comes off a bit rough, Babchoo, but you do have a point. Volunteering time could be a good supplement to cash donations. Does the ECA have an easy way of vetting volunteers? A small investment of time to bring volunteers on board could potentially multiply the ECA's manpower.

Look at how active the posters are in this forum. If you pulled some of the most active posters on board as volunteers...well, think about the potential impact.

 

[Boston George]

You know, if the ECA people could actually come into this thread and address some of the questions that Kate and I have raised, I would actually consider volunteering my time and brainstorming to the effort if I could just see SOME signs of organization and direction.

I cant and wont speak for the ECA, I hope they do address all of your questions.

Money could buy thinktanks. But you could get the same thing from an educated volunteer group if you could just get your stuff together and answer our questions.

Babachoo, they arent buying thinktanks. They are buying feet on the ground in Washington. They are buying lobbiests who have the ear of congress and lawyers to fight the FDA.

Are they bringing a knife to a gunfight? Yes.

Altria has spent 1.3m just in Q1 to loby for the waxman bill.

The FDA can have my e-cig when they pry it from my cold dead hands. The ECA is far from perfect, but they are our best shot.

 

[Kate51]

Better an out gunned fight then no fight at all...and just rolling over and letting it happen...

that's the American Spirit, and what America was literally built on =)

We just need support. As you see everyday something new is happening.

Yah, agree with you there. I am a news-aholic, have been since 9-11.
I see what happens, I see the people who are around the tables in the meetings, they look and act like elitists, the whole bunch...the moderate, sensible people are usually in the background somewhere, they're the ones who don't get the accalaides, OR the party money. They're the ones who are off working, not the ones standing all pinchy faced and proud as punch pompous behind Nancy Polosi. I'm not saying don't fight, I just get tired of the run-around people get when they're trying so hard to be heard. Usually go away because they can't afford to keep fighting. THIS IS BIG, I believe that. It is Big to me.

 

[LaceyUnderall]

You know, if the ECA people could actually come into this thread and address some of the questions that Kate and I have raised, I would actually consider volunteering my time and brainstorming to the effort if I could just see SOME signs of organization and direction.

Money could buy thinktanks. But you could get the same thing from an educated volunteer group if you could just get your stuff together and answer our questions. If you can't answer tough questions from people who are actually FOR your cause, how do you expect to face down OPPONENTS whom will probably have much tougher questions than people like myself and Kate? Please marinate on that for a little bit. Hopefully you'll turn things around before a lot of us lose interest and permanently stamp a seal of disapproval on your organization. Be thorough and answer all of our questions and you may get something worth much more than a cash donation.

I would be happy to get answers to some of your concerns... if I could figure out what they were. Thus far, you have explained in great detail how the ECA is not a 501(c)6 and it has been explained how it is.

 

[Babachoo]

I would be happy to get answers to some of your concerns... if I could figure out what they were. Thus far, you have explained in great detail how the ECA is not a 501(c)6 and it has been explained how it is.

I have made no statements whatsoever saying that the ECA is not a 501c6. Search for my posts in the ECA forum and you'll see the issues I, Kate, and many others have brought up that should be adressed directly, not by spinning things around and addressing issues that we aren't even talking about, like you just did here.

But I said "formerly" because once I saw the membership application thread, I realize that this is just a scam and you'll never be able to earn my respect, as I said in that thread. So keep doing what you're doing and don't mind me, but don't be upset if those of us who aren't paying $4100 a year MINIMUM to join your rediculous middleman skimming operation to wave the banners and bang the drum of optimism and blindly support the ECA here on the forum. I bet that all of these "nothing to see here folks, go back to your homes" people who are responding to posts that question the ECA's organization, modus operandi, and communications skills (or lack thereof), I bet that most all of them have a vested interest in the ECA, if not actually being members. So rather than admit that they've decided to back an organization that would have a hard time getting a "C" on a 2nd grade writing assignment, they continue to show their sheep-like blind faith in what they feel is the "only hope" for ecigs. Our only true hope is that people wake up and realize that the way the ECA is currently operating is not in our best interests, as the typical consumer and even small business owner.

I sincerely hope that people read the ECA's words to see what I know in my heart but am not so good at expressing here, that the ECA is a ship that was released from the dry dock and pushed out to sea with a motor that burns hope, but the captain appears to be drunk and there's a massive hole in the stern. It's doomed, but it's not too late to jump ship and swim to shore and built a new boat with new captains. Read their words (ECA), not mine, and you'll most likely come to the same conclusion if you use your intelligence and not your emotions to discern fact from fantasy.

I'm sorry to have to be a negative Nancy, but with the amount of money you're trying to gouge people for, I feel I need to speak out to avert people from losing their hard earned money. That is all, thank you for your time.

 

[LaceyUnderall]

I still don't really see any questions and the membership dues are for suppliers and manufacturers and not for consumers.

But as you were called out in this thread http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...iscussion/18275-eca-do-we-want-need-them.html posts#17 and #18, I too am questioning who you are and why you are here.

 

[Boston George]

I hear roast Troll is very good with a bit of lemon and paired with a nice white wine.


Seriously.

With all of 8 posts total, you clearly know everything the ECA is about.


Lacey is right, either ask questions or go back to the ASH forum you came from

 

[OutWest]

This is not a non-profit venture though. By very definition, it is a a business league, for profit. Yet you're asking for donations? Register a proper non-profit and I'd happily donate. But an organization that is for profit and will not make all of their accounting and minutes of meetings public, they're certainly not getting anything from me.

As a person who has worked for a 501(c)(3), as an administrative assistant with varied duties including payroll, writing of grant applications, DOL compliance, OSHA and safety compliance, and assorted record keeping, I can tell you that there are many types of non-profits (which has already been covered and the ECA is a 501(c)(6)). I can also tell you that 501(c)(3)s do NOT have to make all of their accounting records public (they have to make some accounting records public, but not all of them) and if it's a private 501(c)(3), they do NOT have to make any of their board meetings, nor the minutes of said meetings, public. If they are a public 501(c)(3), then they have to allow access to the board meetings and make the minutes of the general meeting available to the public, but executive sessions at board meetings, regardless of whether they are public non-profits or private non-profits, are completely private. Rules regarding board meetings and accounting records for other types of non-profits are quite similar.

That being said, rules regarding non-profits do vary slightly from state to state.

 

[tescela]

I have made no statements whatsoever saying that the ECA is not a 501c6. Search for my posts in the ECA forum and you'll see the issues I, Kate, and many others have brought up that should be adressed directly, not by spinning things around and addressing issues that we aren't even talking about, like you just did here.

But I said "formerly" because once I saw the membership application thread, I realize that this is just a scam and you'll never be able to earn my respect, as I said in that thread. So keep doing what you're doing and don't mind me, but don't be upset if those of us who aren't paying $4100 a year MINIMUM to join your rediculous middleman skimming operation to wave the banners and bang the drum of optimism and blindly support the ECA here on the forum. I bet that all of these "nothing to see here folks, go back to your homes" people who are responding to posts that question the ECA's organization, modus operandi, and communications skills (or lack thereof), I bet that most all of them have a vested interest in the ECA, if not actually being members. So rather than admit that they've decided to back an organization that would have a hard time getting a "C" on a 2nd grade writing assignment, they continue to show their sheep-like blind faith in what they feel is the "only hope" for ecigs. Our only true hope is that people wake up and realize that the way the ECA is currently operating is not in our best interests, as the typical consumer and even small business owner.

I sincerely hope that people read the ECA's words to see what I know in my heart but am not so good at expressing here, that the ECA is a ship that was released from the dry dock and pushed out to sea with a motor that burns hope, but the captain appears to be drunk and there's a massive hole in the stern. It's doomed, but it's not too late to jump ship and swim to shore and built a new boat with new captains. Read their words (ECA), not mine, and you'll most likely come to the same conclusion if you use your intelligence and not your emotions to discern fact from fantasy.

I'm sorry to have to be a negative Nancy, but with the amount of money you're trying to gouge people for, I feel I need to speak out to avert people from losing their hard earned money. That is all, thank you for your time.

Here is a multiple choice question for you, Babachoo...

1. Which of the following do you work for?

A. pharmaceutical company
B. tobacco company
C. anti-smoking organization
D. public health [sic] organization


Oh, and yes, I *do* have a vested interest in ECA, as does every other one of the 10k+ vapers in this forum.


Kudos to you, ECA, for carrying the torch!

 

[Boston George]

Here is a multiple choice question for you, Babachoo...
1. Which of the following do you work for?

A. pharmaceutical company
B. tobacco company
C. anti-smoking organization
D. public health [sic] organization

Maybe we should start a poll to decide

 

[Nuck]

Are you guys serious? How long before I get assigned with nefarious motives because I don't agree?

I think the potential for damage from a well meaning but inept group of individuals is far more likely than any benefit. If I was a principle of any group in opposition to ecigs I would welcome the ECA. You couldn't ask for a better opponent.

Rather than answer the glaring contradictions in the ECA statements and actions up to this point, you choose to take the time to poison the well of those that dare to ask. It fits right in with the other kneejerk responses from the ECA.

 

[Boston George]

Nuck, you dont see a pattern of people who have just joined the forum, have less than 15 posts, and claim to fully understand the issues with the FDA and the ECA?

It would be naive to assume that people from groups such as ASH dont come to this forum.

 

[LaceyUnderall]

Nuck -

I agree with BostonGeorge on this. Those who have been on the forum for awhile and proven their status here have every right to question the ECA and in all of the cases there has been questioning, I know I greatly benefit from them and I do pass those concerns on to see if there is a way for resolution.

It is one thing to be an upstanding member of the forum who participates on several different levels, then to be someone who just shows up one day, makes a few posts, and attempts to separate and divide in a seriously negative way.

Your position against the ECA is respected and all the ECA can do is hopefully prove its worth to you in the end.