Posted on 03/04/2019 11:14:46 PM PST by Freedom'sWorthIt
The American Civil Liberties Union dealt a blow Monday to Democrats’ new election overhaul legislation, saying the bill does too much damage to the First Amendment and the storied rights group cannot support it.
ACLU officials said they support parts of the bill, such as making it easier to register to vote, but said the legislation attempts to control even the mere mention of a politician, which goes too far.
“They will have the effect of harming our public discourse by silencing necessary voices that would otherwise speak out about the public issues of the day,” the ACLU’s national political director and senior legislative counsel wrote in a 13-page letter announcing opposition.
Democrats plan to put the bill, H.R. 1, on the chamber floor for a vote later this week.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
The bill is going nowhere beyond the House. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday he won’t even bring it to his chamber’s floor.......
I listened to the discussion of this bill today on Cspan with the terrific questioning of the witness by Congressman Jordan. I don't know the name of the witness but I believe he was with a Free Speech group.
This HR 1 if it ever became law would make criminals of everybody who speaks out against an elected official if I understood correctly this discussion.
this was even too much for the ACLU - please read more at the source.
I want to try to get the transcript of this hearing. But it was indeed a very very scary piece of legislation and it is top priority of the Dems in the House. Which means it will pass in the House. But we need to be calling our Congressmen to be SURE they know we are paying attention and they need to vote NO on this measure.
THANK GOD that Senator McConnell says it won't even be brought to the floor in the Senate. I know some here do not like Sen. McConnell. But on this issue he is our last line of defense except for a Presidential veto.
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/HA/HA00/20190226/108972/BILLS-1161ih.pdf
Here is this heinous bill.
I am searching for Congressman Jordan’s questioning of the witness I heard today. I don’t know if this was a current hearing or the replay of an earlier hearing. Apparently this bill was referred to the House Administrative Committee but also to the House Judiciary committee. Congressman Jordan sits on the Judiciary comnmittee so that may be what I saw. Will investigate further.
This bill, from what I heard today in this hearing, should make everyone on FR and in this country who cares about the rule of law and the furtherance of our Free Republic, get involved in stopping it.
It’s so bad even the ACLU can’t stomach it.
570 pages. Fairly dry material, but it’d take an entire week to read it.
There are at least 2,000 ‘you-must’ clauses written into this.
Thank you for checking out this bill.
I have searched CSPAN to try to find a replay of the hearing I saw because in it Congressman Jordan NAILED the horrors of this bill in his questioning of the witness at hand.
I was going to try to email Jordan but his website says he only accepts emails from his constituents.
Maybe I will call his office tomorrow and see if he knows if there is a replay of this hearing I can access.
There are currently a kazillion give or take a googolplex laws you must follow because of bills we’re not allowed or are too large to read until they are passed. They need to pass a law that says a bill cannot be more than 10 pages long with 10 point font.
I hope Yertle keeps his word. I wish we had a stronger majority leader, but I’m certainly willing to acknowledge the things McConnell has done right, above all supporting the Kavanagh confirmation. He may not be all we desire but he’s leagues ahead of the pathetic Ryno Ryan.
570 pages. Fairly dry material, but it’d take an entire week to read it.
...
Another you have to pass it to find out what’s in it bill.
This bill is probably more end run around the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United. It is their signature issue. It is all about money in politics and their evil desire to eliminate to the maximum extent possible money and politics for everyone BUT themselves. This also extends down to State politics, watch for it.
Bills bills bills to limit what those in politics have been doing for eons, so let’s just limit what they have been doing by making it against the law. SCOTUS said basically when you limit money you limit free speech and for dems free speech is a problem. How can you win elections when your opponents have free speech and money and your platform stinks?
Watch for those endless end runs around a SCOTUS decision they really don’t like and so refuse to accept it. Kind of like the last Presidential election. In some ways they be like Republicans, only more organized and certainly more united.
1 page, max.
Today’s Democrats, too far left for the ACLU. That’s really saying something.
Yes it is (saying something).
Thanks for that info. I wish I had recorded the hearing and the man being questioned. He was from some kind of Free Speech organization. Basically,from what I could gather from Cong. Jordan’s questions, this bill makes it a crime to even speak against a candidate.....basically. I think that’s what the ACLU is objecting to....it is a hammer on free speech. When I heard it my first reaction was that most all of what we read here on FR would be banned. Though I think the legislation (draconian) is aimed at the political action committees mostly.
Again, I am going to keep trying to find a copy of that hearing. It was very alarming to say the least.
Yep.
One thing I do remember from the hearing was that the Federal Election Commission would become an arm of the Democratic Party because it would be made up of 3 Repubs, 3 Dems, and 1 Independent (Bernie Sanders)!!!!!
(Evidently today the FEC is more fair????)
Yes (bills that are end runs around Supreme Court Decisions they don’t like).
I agree. He was great on the Kavanaugh matter. And he is going to be extremely crucial to stopping the onslaught of legislative horrors the Congressional Dems are going to pass. He probably needs some calls for support of his efforts in this regard to help give him backbone to do this. But as you say, I am grateful for what he can and will do.
And stop giving bills a nice fuzzy name when it is really a $hit sandwich that has nothing to do with the name.
I used to put together presentations for investment bankers in our graphics/presentations dept.
We were to let out manager know if a presentation was more than 20 pages long even with large bullet points and graphics.
Since these pitches were being sent to all kinds of major companies, management simply felt after 20 pages those it was presented to would lose interest.
That was bad for business.
In this case, it’s GREAT for politicians.
Because it IS too long for the average person to sift through.
What the.....I swear I just saw a flying pig go past my bedroom window.
It is good that this won’t reach the floor in the senate.
What is BAD is that dem’s bills are getting more frequently and more BLATANTLY dictatorial.
There WILL be a day when there’s a dem controlled congress and presidency, even if it’s 20 year from now.
What then?
I hate where all of this is heading but it is heading there.
McConnell is a traitor, stabbing Trump in the back on his border emergency—and that is just his most recent slight. I wouldn’t trust him on this either. If he sees personal advantage, he’ll back HR1, even if indirectly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.