[Fascist] Pelosi Targets Grassroots Freedom of Speech

Human Events ^ | Dec 18, 2006 | Amanda B. Carpenter

[Jim Robinson]

House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) has pledged to take up a lobbying reform proposal that would impose new regulations on speech by grassroots organizations, while providing a loophole in the rules for large corporations and labor unions.

The legislation would make changes to the legal definition of “grassroots lobbying” and require any organization that encourages 500 or more members of the general public to contact their elected representatives to file a report with detailed information about their organization to the government on a quarterly basis.

The report would include identifying the organization’s expenditures, the issues focused on and the members of Congress and other federal officials who are the subject of the advocacy efforts. A separate report would be required for each policy issue the group is active on.

“Right now, grassroots groups don’t have to report at all if they are communicating with the public,” said Dick Dingman of the Free Speech Coalition, Inc. “This is an effort that would become a major attack on the 1st Amendment.”

Under the bill, communications aimed at an organization’s members, employees, officers or shareholders would be exempt from the reporting requirement. That would effectively exempt most corporations, trade associations and unions from the reporting requirements—but not most conservative grassroots groups, which frequently are less formally organized.

Larger, well-funded organizations are also currently eligible for a “low-dollar lobbyist exemption” that Pelosi’s bill does not give to grassroots organizations. If an organization retains a lobbyist to contact lawmakers directly at a cost of $2,500 per quarter or less, or employs a full-time lobbyist at a cost of $10,000 per quarter or less, the organization does not have to report to the government.

Public Citizen, a liberal “government watchdog,” is taking credit for helping Pelosi craft the legislation and expects the final draft of the bill to closely resemble Pelosi’s Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2006, which contains these provisions.

Craig Holman, a lobbyist for Public Citizen, said the changes would help “streamline” how grassroots organizations are regulated by the IRS and other laws. Public Citizen would like Congress to adopt the IRS’s definition of “lobbying,” which includes communication that encourages the general public to contact a member of Congress on pending legislation or public policy.

“The IRS has a definition that requires all organizations, including non-profits, to file as a part of our tax returns,” Holman said. “When it comes to the election code and the lobbying disclosure act, they have no definition of grassroots lobbying. It’s excluded from everything. The IRS has a definition of grassroots lobbying, but their information is not publicly reported. It’s just our tax returns to the IRS.”

Suzanne Coffman, director of communication for Guidestar.org, which makes IRS 990 forms available on the Internet, said any secular, non-profit organization that has more than $25,000 in income per year is required by law to make the last three years worth of tax forms available upon request. “We get them directly from the IRS, and we have more than two million 990s online” said Coffman. “For non-charitable organizations, like private charities or private foundations, we have fewer because the IRS began scanning those only in April 2005. They focused on charitable organizations, which make up the bulk of exempt organizations, because those are the ones that accept tax-deductible contributions. The need for accountability is much higher with them than with other types of organizations which are sort of subsidized by the taxpayer because they federally are tax exempt, but not like a charity is.”

Public Citizen’s public IRS 990 disclosure forms show that it raised more than $3 million in 2005. That year, the group spent $297, 431 on mail and $178,182 on consulting and professional fees.

A coalition of grassroots organizers, including David Keene of the American Conservative Union, Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America and Terrence Scanlon of the Capitol Research Center, have written an open letter calling on Public Citizen to renounce its efforts, which they called “flawed to the point of hypocrisy.”

“This bill would apply to those who have no Washington-based lobbyists, who provide no money or gifts to members of Congress, and who merely seek to speak, associate and petition the government,” it said. “Regulating the speech, publishing, association and petitioning rights of citizens is not targeted at corruption in Washington, as Public Citizen and its supporters would believe. Instead, it is targeted directly at the 1st-Amendment rights of citizens and their voluntary associations.”

The Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act, which made some of these changes, was actually approved by both the House and the Senate in the 109th Congress, but failed to make it through a conference committee.

To help dramatize the bill this time around, Pelosi is planning to assign sponsorship of various amendments to incoming freshman, which they will promote in their maiden House floor speeches.

Current law prevents former members of Congress and senior staff as well as senior executive staff from lobbying for one year. Pelosi’s proposal would extend that to two years and completely ban members and staff from accepting gifts, meals and privately sponsored travel.

Miss Carpenter is Assistant Editor for HUMAN EVENTS. She is the author of "The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy's Dossier on Hillary Rodham Clinton," published by Regnery (a HUMAN EVENTS sister company).

[KevinDavis]

If I remember to do it that is..

[MaxMax]

The democrat' have the MSM to spout their agenda.
By shutting down the republicans they are in effect turning
back the clock when they (MSM) controled the election propaganda. /imo

And here we go.

[GitmoSailor]

I didn't give up!!!!! It just took me a long time to start over!!!...I'am here!!!

[EGPWS]

Why do "lawmakers" feel like they must constantly make laws?

Why do plumbers always have to find more leaks in your plumbing?

[Mo1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Claybrook

Joan Claybrook is an American lawyer who has served as President of Public Citizen since 1982. Previously, she was head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the Carter administration from 1977 to 1981. [1]

[traviskicks]

"The legislation would make changes to the legal definition of “grassroots lobbying” and require any organization that encourages 500 or more members of the general public to contact their elected representatives to file a report with detailed information about their organization to the government on a quarterly basis."





Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.

[Dog Gone]

There's no bill yet, just rhetoric. I'm just not panicked about this stuff.

We have at least 41 good senators, and we can use the filibuster just as well as the rats did.

[TAdams8591]

I bet it is. It was my first thought while reading the article.

[EGPWS]

they are positive they are right and we are wrong.

You give them WAY too much credit in their thought process.

[onyx]

Here it is!

Complete listing of US Senate and Rep contact information. Keep the First Amendment!

My, my, it is truly "here we go again" time. The beast NEVER sleeps!

[KevinDavis]

If they ever think...

[proud_yank]

Who on FR was happy that the 'Rats won?

I can see where Republicans lost, but who in the world would be happy about Nazi Pelosi and Reid sitting where they are?

[A CA Guy]

I think that would be Unconstitutional.

[You Dirty Rats]

any organization that encourages 500 or more members of the general public to contact their elected representatives

500? That's not enough to win a school board election! Nancy isn't even being subtle about trying to establish a Police State, is she?

[proud_yank]

There's no bill yet, just rhetoric. I'm just not panicked about this stuff.

I doubt something like this would pass, however it does worry me. Something like this should not even be up for debate in America.

[onyx]

Let's see if some of them show up. I'd hate to be 'nasty'....lol.

[Scotsman will be Free]

You mean like the "Campaign Reform Law"?

[Sam Hill]

The Oh So Ethical Nancy Pelosi Is Fined For PAC Violations

If there is one thing Nancy Pelosi should be an expert on, besides the hazards of excessive plastic surgery, it should be ethics.

For lest we forget, she was fined $21,000 by the Federal Election Commission, just a little over two years ago:

For Immediate Release
March 26, 2004

AFFILIATED LEADERSHIP PACS FINED

WASHINGTON — The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has resolved a number of allegations concerning contributions made and received by two affiliated committees, PAC to the Future and Team Majority, leadership PACs that are associated with Representative Nancy Pelosi (D - CA). The FEC has entered into conciliation agreements with PAC to the Future and Team Majority, and three campaigns that were recipients of excessive contributions.

The conciliation agreements resulted in total civil penalties of $28,000. PAC to the Future and Team Majority will pay $21,000, Julie Thomas for Congress Campaign Committee (D - IA) and Van Hollen for Congress (D - MD) will each pay $2,500, and Joe Turnham for Congress (D - AL) will pay $2,000. The three campaigns have also agreed to disgorge $5,000 each to the U.S. Treasury.

The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) states that committees that are established, financed, maintained, or controlled by the same person or group of persons are "affiliated committees." Contributions made to or by such committees shall be considered to have been made to or by a single committee. Under the FECA, a multicandidate PAC is limited to receiving $5,000 per calendar year from individual contributors. Further, a candidate may only accept $5,000 per election from a multicandidate PAC. If a committee accepts contributions that exceed these limits, its treasurer must either refund the excessive contributions or seek redesignation to another election or reattribution to another donor within sixty days.

According to the conciliation agreement with PAC to the Future and Team Majority, the PACs failed to identify themselves as affiliated with each other when they registered with the FEC, and both PACs made contributions to several candidates for the 2002 General Election, which, when aggregated, exceeded their shared $5,000 contribution limit . The PACs also received contributions from individuals that exceeded their shared $5,000 contribution limit and did not refund the excessive portion of contributions within 60 days.

The investigation stemmed from a complaint filed by Kenneth F. Boehm, Chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center.

[HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath]

If President Bush signs this into law, its hasta la vista to the Republican party.

[Paleo Conservative]

We have at least 41 good senators, and we can use the filibuster just as well as the rats did.

But W would sign it in a heartbeat just as he signed McCain Feingold, and that Rasputin in the West Wing aka Karl Rove would urge him to sign it.