FREE SPEECH ISN'T FREE ACCORDING TO WISCONSIN

Noisyroom.net ^ | 8-6-2010 | AJ

[Whenifhow]

Wisconsin has enacted a law which makes political free speech subject to fees or jail time.

If you think this can’t happen in America… well… it just did. This law affects liberals, conservatives and those of every political persuasion. It affects every American, both inside and outside of WI, who communicate in any manner about candidates running for office in WI.

Whether you are supporting or opposing a candidate, gathering to demonstrate for or against a candidate, or even if you are using email or the Internet to express your opinion about a candidate, you are subject to fees or jail time.

In the dark of night, behind closed doors, WI enacted the new Government Accountability Board – G.A.B. 128 Rule which silences political free speech 60 days prior to the election. Conveniently, this law goes into effect on August 15, 2010 with little to no time for successful legal challenges prior to the November 2010 election.

The entire text of the G.A.B. 1 Rule can be found here (Sections 1.10, 1.28, and 1.42 are most revealing): http://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/code/gab/gab001.pdf

Under this new law, individuals and groups must pay a $100 registration fee to the state of WI if they want permission to use political speech that totals at least $25 “cumulatively in a calendar year.” But it doesn’t stop there…

Individuals and groups must set up a separate depository account and file a report with the Accountability Board and Secretary of State. They then need to provide periodic reports of every communication – explaining the type of communication/action for each and every episode of political free speech.

What WI did by adding G.A.B. 1.28 to the G.A.B. 1 Rule is to define political communication and actions in order to give the government the legal ability to regulate and monitor everything you say and do.

Expenses related to political free speech will include such things as a portion of your Internet bills, your phone bills, signs you’ve made, gas/bus fare to political gatherings, fliers, mailings, etc. These types of communication and action will easily total $25 per year for every American who wishes to exercise their 1st Amendment right to political free speech.

Essentially, WI has now abolished everyone’s Constitutional right to political free speech by enacting a law to ensure free speech is no longer free, and it’s now granted (or not granted), and monitored by the government.

This unconstitutional power grab by the government should outrage everyone on the political spectrum – left, right and everyone in between.

Just as the events of the Gulf Oil disaster unites everyone who cares about our Gulf Coast, this too is an issue that unites all of us.

If this new law stands in WI, it won’t be long before it spreads to other states throughout the country. Ohio is already moving in that direction: Bloggericide: Ohio Officials Charge Blogger With Campaign Violations. Will your state be next?

Here is the list of WI legislators who are responsible for taking away our right to political free speech – you may want to contact them via phone, email or letter before our right to free speech expires on August 15:

• Senator Russ Feingold (D)

• Senator Herbert H. Kohl (D)

• Governor Jim Doyle (D)

• Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton (D)

• Secretary of State Doug LaFollette (D)

• District 1 – Paul D. Ryan (R)

• District 2 – Tammy Baldwin (D)

• District 3 – Ron J. Kind (D)

• District 4 – Gwen Moore (D)

• District 5 – James F. Sensenbrenner (R)

• District 6 – Thomas E. Petri (R)

• District 7 – David R. Obey (D)

• District 8 – Steve Kagen (D)

With 77% of WI’s elected officials coming from the Democratic Party, clearly it’s been hi-jacked and it’s no longer the party we once knew. Their actions prove that they, AND the complicit Republicans, intend to strip us of our freedom and liberty.

When we allow government to grant “rights” to the American people, we are also granting them the power to take our rights away… and they just did.

From Gateway Pundit:

It should be pointed out that political speech was the very sort of free speech that the founders of this country were talking about when they crafted the First Amendment.

[Dead Corpse]

I have rope and some really tall oak trees.

[Pride in the USA]

ping

[USMCPOP]

“It’s sad to think of everyone who died in wars for this BS.”

It makes me positively ill, not to mention angry.

[Clint Williams]

The fact that this could be doe in bipartisan faction ought to be a wakeup call in how negligent you folks have been with your liberties.

Ought to be, but won't. Ten seconds of obligatory noise and you'll be back to your cars, boats, wide-screen TVs and other toys.

America -- a great idea, didn't last.

[JrsyJack]

oh please, get over your self-righteousness

[StolarStorm]

Don’t worry. Those of us with a brain and who aren’t insane understood that you were discussing the negative affects of such laws...not rationalizing them. It was obvious. I believe the other poster is simply looking for a fight... or has an “issue”.

[Whenifhow]

Everyone should search their state SOS to see if any recent changes have been made to election procedures. Soros is making his move.

Info from a few contacts:

Many of the official SOS websites have been changed or removed. WI was changed in 2007 only to take effect Aug 1, 2010

It was discovered PA’s SOS was replaced in June. Voting changes have been made under the new guy and Commonwealth Court dated August 1st.

It is my understanding that NV has a position on the ballot that says “None of the above. It’s poison and will help REID

[djf]

90% of politicians these days are as ignorant of history or law as 90% of Americans.

Since the advent of mass electronic media, politics has descended into a snake pit of thirty second sounds bites and $3,000 dollar haircuts.
If a used car salesman ran for office, I might actually vote for him, he’d be the most honest one of the bunch.

[thecodont]

Everyone should search their state SOS to see if any recent changes have been made to election procedures. Soros is making his move.

Site Maintenance Schedule - California Secretary of State

http://www.sos.ca.gov/maintenance-schedule.htm

[dennisw]

Its time to pluck the feathers and boil the tar, someone get a goodly supply of rails also!

 

The rail is the wooden pole he is driven out of town on

 

 

Riding the rail

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An example of this practice in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Riding the rail (also called running out of town on a rail) was a punishment of Colonial America in which a man was made to straddle a fence rail held on the shoulders of two men, with other men on either side to keep him upright on the rail. The victim was then paraded around town or taken to the city limits and dumped by the roadside. Injuries from the ride could, if the victim were stripped, result in a cut crotch that often made walking painful.

The punishment was usually a form of mob extrajudicial punishment imposed in connection with tarring and feathering. It was intended to show community displeasure and humiliate the victim so he either conformed his behavior or left. Alternatively the term also referred to tying a person's hands and feet around a rail so the person dangles under the rail.

Other references mention its being used as punishment for Confederate prisoners in Union POW camps during the American Civil War. In these cases, the victims were usually clothed.

[dennisw]

Its time to pluck the feathers and boil the tar, someone get a goodly supply of rails also!

 

The rail is the wooden pole he is driven out of town on

 

 

Riding the rail

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An example of this practice in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Riding the rail (also called running out of town on a rail) was a punishment of Colonial America in which a man was made to straddle a fence rail held on the shoulders of two men, with other men on either side to keep him upright on the rail. The victim was then paraded around town or taken to the city limits and dumped by the roadside. Injuries from the ride could, if the victim were stripped, result in a cut crotch that often made walking painful.

The punishment was usually a form of mob extrajudicial punishment imposed in connection with tarring and feathering. It was intended to show community displeasure and humiliate the victim so he either conformed his behavior or left. Alternatively the term also referred to tying a person's hands and feet around a rail so the person dangles under the rail.

Other references mention its being used as punishment for Confederate prisoners in Union POW camps during the American Civil War. In these cases, the victims were usually clothed.

[TXnMA]

I see you understand my references to sharp edges, splinters and springiness... ‘-)

[greeneyes]

When republican names for US congress appear in the list of people responsible for this law, I have to question the accuracy of the reporting. Do US congress critters get to vote on state laws in Wisconsin?

[Whenifhow]

“Do US congress critters get to vote on state laws in Wisconsin?”

State legislators should have been listed.
Please see post #41 for more on this.

[dennisw]

I see you understand my references to sharp edges, splinters and springiness... ‘-)>>>>>>>>>

I know it these days but a few years ago I thought it had to do with steel rails for trains. I’ll bet most Americas think the same.....Those who have even heard the expression. Your rail is wooden fence rail

[dennisw]

Riding a rail..... You could get your family jewels hurt permanently!

[HollyB]

Thanks, I appreciate your understanding. I have a lot of family there, so I heard many reports of the confusion. This law is even worse as it clamps down on personal speech. What is crazy is on the GAB website it states:

“It will improve transparency in campaign finance and elections, and help voters make informed decisions at the ballot box.”

Help make informed decisons? Really, quite the opposite.

Apparently, according to the GAB, this rule was approved in March 2010, sent to the legislature which did not respond, so it became recorded August 2010. It would have been nice if there was some transparency in March so the people of Wisconsin could have stated their opposition this infringement of freedom.

Here’s the GAB site:

http://gab.wi.gov/node/1252

[HollyB]

Wow, just wow. Wisconsin: No political speech 60 days before election. Look at 1.28 especially:

http://gab.wi.gov/sites/default/files/news/1_28_wis_adm_code_eff_8_1_10_pdf_17740.pdf

[TXnMA]

I have quite a few acres of timber land here in the East Texas Piney Woods -- hence my offerof pine rails in #46... '-)

[unixfox]

...and what happens if this is just ignored? The Cheese Police comes to your door?

Yep. People were saying this about smokers and cigarettes too. Oh, that will never happen, they would never do that, yet as we sit here today that VERY thing IS happening all over the country. Police are AGGRESSIVELY looking for these types of violators.

And it's all for ONE reason...

MONEY!