Senate Democrats Renew Push to Gut Free Speech

Congress is back in Washington, and Senate Democrats have wasted no time in bringing forward their proposal for a constitutional amendment that would give Congress the right to set limits on how much money can be raised for and spent in federal political campaigns.

Section 1. To advance democratic self-government and political equality, and to protect the integrity of government and the electoral process, Congress and the States may regulate and set reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections.

Section 2. Congress and the States shall have power to implement and enforce this article by appropriate legislation, and may distinguish between natural persons and corporations or other artificial entities created by law, including by prohibiting such entities from spending money to influence elections.

Section 3. Nothing in this article shall be construed to grant Congress or the States the power to abridge the freedom of the press.

In his first floor speech following the August recess, Majority Leader Reid made it clear that he’s willing to once again prevent Republicans from having a voice in the Senate...

Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) took Reid and Durbin to task over their efforts to extend big government control over free political speech:

[t]he Majority Leader in his wisdom has decided to bring up this amendment, because he thinks the most urgent order of business is to replace the current First Amendment ... and replace it with one that empowers incumbent politicians to control who has access to the resources in order to get their message out…

The Senate voted 79-18 to move forward with SJR 19, and the chamber is now allowed 30 hours total of debate on the resolution before it comes up for a final vote

I want names!

I want the names of every Republican that voted for this abominable TYRANNY!

I want to work as hard as possible to unseat them in the next election!

I will write-in the name of somebody I trust and let the Republicans LOSE the bloody Senate than support any such tyrant!

I want the name of every Republican that voted for this abominable TYRANNY!

That was MY first-blush reaction as well. But then I began contemplating the possible downside for the Democrats, and I read the whole article. The concluding paragraph
most Republicans are expected to oppose the measure on a final vote, which means that the procedural strategy we’re seeing here is setting up a major loss for Reid and red state Democrats, and a huge messaging win for Republicans.
matched up with my own speculation. They voted to debate the proposal - and wouldn’t you like the idea of the rhetorical mincemeat you could make of the opposition trying to support the indefensible?

And, after all, presumably there are two chances of getting the amendment ratified: slim and none. The House aint gonna pass it by 2/3, and few if any “Red” states - which, in the nature of things, constitute a clear majority of the 50 states - would ratify it if they did.
If Ted Cruz is as good as his reputation, this is shaping up to be a golden opportunity for him to teach the country some Constitution. What he should do is propose an amendment to this proposal which would:

delete all of the Democrats’ language and,

declare that freedom of the press is the right of the people to buy, and spend money operating, a printing press or any other technological means of mass or individual communication (read, broadcasting and internet web sites and cable channels) for the purpose of promoting their own understanding of the public good and/or of virtuous religion. Making clear that this right inheres in the people at large, and cannot be restricted to those who already own a printing press - and that the government has no authority to use propaganda media for anything other than official notices required by law.

declare that education of children is under the control of parents, and no government school may promote or inculcate the idea of reliance on the unquestioned objectivity of any medium or any particular outlet of reporting.

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