THE (NOW) SILENT MAJORITY; CFR the end of free speach

A number of years ago the term "silent majority" was used by hard core Clinton haters in an attempt to bring hope for the future. The silent majority did not exist the way they envisioned it. Now however, the term takes on new meaning. A true silent majority may soon exist if Campaign Finance "Reform" (CFR) becomes law. This bill would silence the majority of Americans. Special Interest Groups (SIG) have long been demonized; but really, what are they? If you care deeply about an issue, be it environmental, working conditions, retirement benefits, guns or a host of others; there is a SIG out there working for you. If you send them a donation they lobby Congress and/or take out ads with the money. They are the safety valve allowing the "little guy's" voice to be heard where and when it counts. CFR will still allow your SIG to lobby, but it will not allow them to influence elections on your behalf. You will have been silenced.

CFR will not hamper the "big boys"; but rather empower them even more. Rush Limbaugh and Peter Jennings will still have their shows. But you or I? Unless one of the "big boys" takes up our issue it won't be heard about. Our voices will never again be heard. This bill will create a Silent Majority in the style of the old USSR. I don't think this is what our Founding Fathers had in mind when they drafted the First Amendment.

I did kind of have to be hard on our guys a bit here; I want a more broad appeal since I submitted this to the local rag. If I just talked about how it would silence us it wouldn't get published.

1 posted on 02/15/2002 5:48:17 AM PST by logic101.net (mark762@wi.rr.com)

Supporters of CFR act as though the reform will cause politics in the US to return to some primordial state of purity. I can't understand their reasoning.

Did we have similar laws in our first century or so?

2 posted on 02/15/2002 5:58:49 AM PST by syriacus

"The ought to be limits to freedom" -G.W. Bush, when asked about the free speech of a parody web site spoofing his own campaign site.

4 posted on 02/16/2002 7:22:41 AM PST by Anti-Republican

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