Finance Reform Risky - A Freeper's Letter to the Editor

The Arizona Republic ^ | March 21, 2002 | Marcia Regan

[dittomom]

On the day Senator McCain gets his triumphant front page above the fold headline and photo for the passage of campaign finance reform (Senate approves campaign reform), there is at least some small satisfaction from an opposing view that appears in the same newspaper. OK, so it's buried among the letters to the editor on page B8.

In case you don't know, I am the author of the above letter to the editor. I submitted it a few days ago, in advance of the Senate vote, so the editors had to do a little editing.

Some of the editing was necessary to reflect yesterday's Senate vote. And I guess there wasn't room to include "Don’t our Representatives, Senators and President swear to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution?" after the reference to the First Amendment. And I guess it was too much of a run-on sentence to add "at a crucial time - before elections when voters are trying to learn about the candidates" in the second to last paragraph. And this sentence was probably too redundant - "This is not just about abridging your freedom to speak out about candidates; it is about keeping you in the dark!"

Oh well, I am not a constitutional scholar or an english major. Just a citizen who would like to see a little more respect for the Constitution.

[dittomom]

PINGING a few good Arizona Freepers!

[mattdono]

You go, dittomo!

[mattdono]

Sorry: I meant, "dittomom"

[dittomom]

Another PING for Freedom of Speech!

[Gunner9mm]

Time to freep the White House! White House fax number is 202-456-2461.

[RAT Patrol]

Way to go, dittomom!

My commitment to all of you is strong. But I will not forgive Bush for this. I wasn't sure if I could get over it or not. Now I know I can't. I know the cost but if you can't depend on what you're told when they're campaigning, what's the use.

[RAT Patrol]

I gave over $500 dollars to Bush. I wrote letters to the editor, something I don't love to do. I wrote one that included a big chunk of info straight from his website and they printed it. I have spent hours supporting and defending a man that I once trusted.

What a sucker I turned out to be, and not the endangered and protected kind.

[RamsNo1]

Thank you for your persistence with the AZ Republic. Congratulations on getting your opinions in the paper no matter what page number they are on. Good for you!

[RAT Patrol]

Let me add that I invested in a bunch of campaign stuff too. I wore that dang sweatshirt practically everyday I went somewhere. LOL! (I can still laugh a little.) I carried that goofy canvas bag even to the "Antiques Roadshow" and DAN RATHER WAS THERE...so I held it up as prominently as possible. SUCKER SUCKER!

My "pals" at my newspaper had an editorial "Miracle". Sheesh! At least they never waivered on their principles, sorry principles that they are! I respect that more than liars!

[Steve_Seattle]

"Time to Freep the White House."

I'm afraid it's too late for that; it appears that the decision has been made. I'm mad as hell, and Bush has lost my vote in 2004. Clinton/Gore thought they could survive without the Naderites, and Bush apparently thinks he can survive without us. Only time will tell.

[Cyber Liberty]

That's one of the reasons I gave up writing letters to the Repugnant: They kept chopping out my most pithy remarks.

[DLfromthedesert]

Congratulations!!! Great letter!! Now if we can only get our President to see the light!

[dittomom]

I know. I am very disappointed in the statement put out last night by the President. It does feel like a betrayal. But I see that there are many others, including FR's own Bob Johnson, who have signed their names to a letter to the President.

Bob Johnson, David Keene, others send letter to President Bush on Campaign Reform

UNTIL Bush actually signs this thing, there is still a ghost of a chance.

BUT in reality, it looks like its up to the courts as McCain says. That is irresponsible. For many years, my congressman, John Shadegg, along with others, has tried to get a bill through Congress requiring bills to pass constitutional muster before they even come to the floor. In effect, requiring Congress to follow the rule book, when they try to add new rules. Disgusting that we would need such a thing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm furious over this. But I am even more upset with the "sheeple." Even if they knew what was in the bill, they still wouldn't understand what an outrage it is. That would require an understanding of the First Amendment.

[RAT Patrol]

You are the voice of reason. Much calmer than I am. This one just hurts too much. It wasn't just politics when we all said "character matters" when all the issues were about Clinton. I guess I am most hurt because I really trusted him. I have looked the other way on serval things because I trusted him. Now that I know it's all politics for him everything is different. I woke up today and everything was different. (Not my beloved family, friends, and FREEPERS! of course!)

[RAT Patrol]

I called the White House as soon as the comment line opened today. I was in tears. Typical female thing to do I suppose, but this one just really hits me hard!

[Steve_Seattle]

Does anyone have Mitch McConnell's email? It's time we support HIM.

[dittomom]

Glad you called the White House. I hope they are hearing from alot of us. Like I posted last night - I want to see the President's face and hear his Texas twang when he tells us he's signing this abomination. And I want to hear him say how his administration is going to fight the unconstitutional portions of it. He talked about respect for the constitution when he came out at the last minute into the Pickering fight. He needs to do it again!

[dittomom]

Mitch McConnell contact info...

PHONE - 202-224-2541

FAX - 202-224-2499

EMAIL - senator@mcconnell.senate.gov

[Joe Brower]

Here is the letter to the editor I wrote today and sent to five local Florida newspapers. It's 297 words long. Since I wrote it in any case, I thought I'd post it here so that anyone else who wants to send it to their local paper(s) can just copy, paste and mail away.

***

So, the Senate has approved the so-called "Campaign Finance Reform" bill by a vote of 60-40, after the House of Representatives passed it by a vote of 240-189. Florida's own two Senators, Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, signed it. It should come as no surprise, really. Once people obtain positions of power, it only stands to reason that they will alter the game to assure that they remain there. This also explains why the mainstream media has almost universally supported this, since this bill gives those agencies almost complete domination of election information thirty to sixty days prior to an election.

You have to love the way that politicians can work the language. "Campaign finance reform" sounds so much better than "incumbent protection act", doesn't it?

Let it be known right here and right now that every one of the 249 members of the House of Representatives and 60 members of the Senate have acted in deliberate and direct violation of the Oaths of Office, which states that those who hold office in the federal legislature shall "support and defend the Constitution of the United States". The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which is the Supreme Law of the Land, begins with "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech". What part of "Congress shall make no law" don't these "educated" people understand?

It also seems that no one perceives the supreme irony that this bill embodies -- that our so-called "leaders" must pass a federal law to supposedly keep themselves honest? At the very least, this bill is a vote of no confidence against themselves. What will become of all this is quite uncertain. The law of unintended consequences looms large in this corrupt and blatantly unconstitutional piece of legislature.