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Campaign Finance Reform Muzzles Political Dissent - Daily Campaign Finance Reform Thread - Day 53
eco-logic Powerhouse ^
| February 2, 2004
| Dr. Ron Paul
Posted on 02/02/2004 9:49:37 AM PST by The_Eaglet
Commentary
Campaign Finance Reform Muzzles Political Dissent
By Rep. Ron Paul
In a devastating blow to political speech, the Supreme Court recently upheld most of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill passed by Congress last year. The legislation will do nothing to curb special interest power or reduce corruption in Washington, but it will make it harder for average Americans to influence government. "Campaign finance reform" really means the bright-line standard of free speech has been replaced by a murky set of regulations and restrictions that will muzzle political dissent and protect incumbents. Justice Scalia correctly accuses the Court of supporting a law "That cuts to the heart of what the First Amendment is meant to protect: the right to criticize the government. This is a sad day for freedom of speech."
Two important points ignored by the Court should be made. First, although the new campaign rules clearly violate the First Amendment, they should be struck down primarily because Congress has no authority under Article I of the Constitution to regulate campaigns at all. Article II authorizes only the regulation of elections, not campaigns, because our Founders knew Congress might pass campaign laws that protect incumbency. This is precisely what McCain-Feingold represents: blatant incumbent protection, sold to the public as noble reform.
Second, freedom of the press applies equally to all Americans, not just the institutional, government-approved media.
(Excerpt) Read more at eco.freedom.org ...
TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: billofrights; campaignfinance; cfrdailythread; constitution; feingold; firstamendment; freedomofspeech; mccain; mccainfeingold; meehan; ronpaul; shays; shaysmeehan
To: RiflemanSharpe; Lazamataz; proud American in Canada; Congressman Billybob; backhoe; jmc813; ...
Ping
2
posted on
02/02/2004 9:59:35 AM PST
by
The_Eaglet
(Giving Valin a Break - Please help him by asking your Congressman to Repeal CFR NOW)
To: Valin; ETERNAL WARMING; John R. (Bob) Locke
3
posted on
02/02/2004 10:10:59 AM PST
by
The_Eaglet
(Giving Valin a Break - Please help him by asking your Congressman to Repeal CFR NOW)
To: The_Eaglet
Bump for later.
4
posted on
02/02/2004 10:31:30 AM PST
by
Eastbound
To: The_Eaglet
Second, freedom of the press applies equally to all Americans, not just the institutional, government-approved media. That's what I thought too. Apparently we were wrong. Just ask the Supremes.
5
posted on
02/02/2004 10:41:34 AM PST
by
King Black Robe
(With freedom of religion and speech now abridged, it is time to go after the press.)
To: The_Eaglet; Jaysun; o_zarkman44
Bump for later.
And
Hugh & Series, Critical & Pulled by JimRob
Special to FreeRepublic | 17 December 2003 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)
This is nothing like the usual whine by someone whose post was pulled. JimRob pulled my previous thread for a good reason. "If direct fund-raising were permitted on FR, it would soon be wall-to-wall fund-raising."
So, let's start again correctly. This is about civil disobedience to support the First Amendment and challenge the TERRIBLE CFR decision of the Supreme Court to uphold a terrible law passed by Congress and signed by President Bush.
All who are interested in an in-your-face challenge to the 30- and 60-day ad ban in the Campaign Finance "Reform" Act, please join in. The pattern is this: I'm looking for at least 1,000 people to help the effort. I will run the ad, and risk fines or jail time to make it work -- AND get national support.
But there should be NO mentions of money in this thread, and not in Freepmail either. This is JimRob's electronic home, and we should all abide his concerns.
Put your comments here. Click on the link above, and send me your e-mail addresses. I will get back to you by regular e-mail with the practical details.
This CAN be done. This SHOULD be done. But it MUST be done in accord with JimRob's guidelines.
Fair enough?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1042394/posts Update
I've already tested the idea of my in-your-face challenge ads, first in the print media and then deliberately illegal on TV, with certain editors I have a long relationship with. I could trust these two gentlemen, one in the print media and the other in the broadcast media, with a "heads up" on what I am planning. Both said they wanted to know, in advance, when I am about to do this.
The bottom line is clear. If I am willing to put my neck on the line, with the possibilities of a fine and jail time, THAT effort will put CFR back on the front page in all media. And that is part of the point. There's not much value of going in-your-face against the enemies of the First Amendment unless the press takes up the story and spreads the word. It is now clear they will do exactly that.
Update 2
QUICK PROGRESS REPORT, ANSWERING A SUPPORTER'S QUESTION:
We have about 15% of the needed 1,000 sign-ups.
Spread the word, direct folks to the front page link on my website.
Google-bomb the phrase "anti-CFR" directing readers to that page and link. (We're already #2 and #4 on Google.)
Target date is now August, since the NC primary looks to be put back to September. (Remember, the ad isn't illegal until the 29th day before the election.)
Cordially,
John / Billybob
Note if you are interested in more on this please contact Valin or Congressman Billybob
6
posted on
02/02/2004 10:42:14 AM PST
by
Valin
(Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.)
To: King Black Robe
We need to prove ourselves right at at the ballot box.
7
posted on
02/03/2004 3:46:58 AM PST
by
The_Eaglet
(Giving Valin a Break - Please help him by asking your Congressman to Repeal CFR NOW)
8
posted on
02/03/2004 11:00:22 AM PST
by
The_Eaglet
(Conservative chat on IRC: http://searchirc.com/search.php?F=exact&T=chan&N=33&I=conservative)
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