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Transcript From House Floor; Meehan Admits "Issue" Ads By Citizens Are HANDCUFFED! Must Read!!
The Congressional Record ^ | February 13, 2002

Posted on 02/15/2002 1:42:36 PM PST by Recovering_Democrat

Fellow conservatives, like many of you I was watching the floor debate on CSPAN Wednesday. Time after time the liberals tried to pooh-pooh the notion that the Shays-Meehan legislation would not hinder political Freedom of Speech. But in a rare moment of truth-telling, Marty Meehan, one of the two principles, engaged in a colloquy (fancy term for "conversation") with Bart Stupak ('rat-Michigan). And Marty let the cat out of the bag! Observe the following transcript from The Congressional Record.

If you're like me, you'll want to make a note of this in your letters to the President and your Senators.

Remember: these people are going on tv shows and saying Shays-Meehan DOES NOT LIMIT CITIZENS FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS. But look at the transcript (emphasis added):

start of transcript

MR. MEEHAN: "...[Shays-Meehan] provides that corporations, including nonprofit corporations and unions, cannot use their treasury funds to pay for ads that mention a Federal candidate during the last 2 months of the election cycle... "

Mr. STUPAK:"Reclaiming my time, just to clarify, Mr. Chairman, am I correct in saying that the Shays-Meehan substitute...simply states that ads that mention candidates within the last 60 days of an election must be paid for with federally regulated hard money?

Mr. MEEHAN:"...that is absolutely correct. Organizations may run any ad they wish at any time at all if they use hard money.

end of transcript

Now, what does this say, fellow FREEPers? Basically it is saying that ONLY FEDERALLY REGULATED HARD MONEY may be used to run ads that mention candidates within the last 60 days of an election. So, the Freedom of Speech in September and October of 2004 will only be granted to those organizations that raise HARD MONEY.

So how is it liberals can go on and say "Commercials can be run at any time!" Don't believe the lie! Here is another part of the transcript, straight from the mouth of the 'rat Meehan himself:

MR. MEEHAN: "Political action committees, commonly known as PACs, raise money...in amounts that are limited by Federal law...[and] can run ads that mention a candidate at any time during the election cycle without any restriction."

Ah...PACs are limited in the amount of money they can raise, but they can run ads "without any restriction." Do you see the contradiction?


TOPICS: Announcements; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: silenceamerica
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"...corporations, including nonprofit corporations and unions, cannot use their treasury funds to pay for ads that mention a Federal candidate during the last 2 months of the election cycle...

All of Meehan's comments are reprehensible, but this one takes the cake. Are you a member of any non-profit group or industry or union that wants to express a viewpoint during the last two months of a campaign? "FORGET ABOUT IT!" says Marty Meehan, "YOUR VIEWS ARE NOW FORBIDDEN!" "OH, NOW, IF YOU WANT TO FORM A 'PAC' AND BE REGULATED AGAIN AS TO HOW MUCH YOU CAN ACCEPT, WELL, THEN, THAT'S OKAY. BUT YOU HAVE TO DO THAT FIRST BEFORE YOUR VOICE CAN BE HEARD!"

Make no mistake: Shays-Meehan/McCain-Feingold are traitorous, anti-Constitutional bills. They cannot become law. This transcript is just another piece of evidence against the legislation.

One final note: go to the link yourself, if you're still skeptical. Do a search for "federally regulated hard money", and you can see the entire colloquy (fancy word for conversation) yourself!

I'm so glad to be a...
Recovering_Democrat

1 posted on 02/15/2002 1:42:36 PM PST by Recovering_Democrat
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To: Recovering_Democrat
Hard money is the money in a candidate's personal campaign chest, correct?
2 posted on 02/15/2002 1:45:30 PM PST by NovemberCharlie
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To: Recovering_Democrat; All
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a provision in this bill that says you can use soft money to pay hard money debts?
3 posted on 02/15/2002 1:48:17 PM PST by oldvike
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To: Recovering_Democrat
bttt
4 posted on 02/15/2002 1:48:59 PM PST by Fish out of Water
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To: NovemberCharlie
Correctomundo senoir'.
5 posted on 02/15/2002 1:49:09 PM PST by oldvike
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To: Recovering_Democrat
BUMP
6 posted on 02/15/2002 1:51:29 PM PST by lucyblue
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To: lucyblue
Let me ask someone more knowledgeable. Does any of this prevent a federal candidate from coming onto Leno or Letterman, or Oprah, or any of the million other liberal shrills?

It sounds to be that cable will be populated ONLY with liberal thought since they control cable.

7 posted on 02/15/2002 1:57:22 PM PST by Naspino
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To: Recovering_Democrat
I hope that in the case Bush DOJ would have a spine to sue each and every newspaper for mentionning any candidate - claiming that it mas political ad masquerading as a news/opinion item.

I would say it will be fun to watch.

8 posted on 02/15/2002 1:57:48 PM PST by alex
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To: oldvike
Yes. It was slipped into the final draft.
9 posted on 02/15/2002 1:57:50 PM PST by folklore
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To: folklore
That should be getting more press then. That is an absolute double standard.
10 posted on 02/15/2002 2:02:32 PM PST by oldvike
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To: Recovering_Democrat

Meehan: "Yes, I promised to not run again because of term limits. So what.
There is nothing I wont do to get what I want. We dont care about the First Amendment."


11 posted on 02/15/2002 2:02:46 PM PST by Diogenesis
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To: oldvike
Yes, but ONLY for the current election cycle. Since the Republicans have essentially no debt and the 'rats have A TON of debt, this is essentially a free ride for the 'rats.

Sickening, isn't it? That was another part of the bill the Republicans railed on over and over the other night TO NO AVAIL. :(

12 posted on 02/15/2002 2:02:54 PM PST by Recovering_Democrat
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To: Recovering_Democrat
It is the Maria Cantwell get out of debt free card.
13 posted on 02/15/2002 2:11:41 PM PST by folklore
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To: folklore
bump
14 posted on 02/15/2002 2:15:35 PM PST by timestax
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To: Recovering_Democrat

15 posted on 02/15/2002 2:37:36 PM PST by cody32127
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To: oldvike
Ergo, only a candidate is permitted to run ads mentioning his name.
16 posted on 02/15/2002 2:39:34 PM PST by NovemberCharlie
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To: Recovering_Democrat
bump
17 posted on 02/15/2002 3:16:10 PM PST by rwfromkansas
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To: rwfromkansas;all
Here's a Note to Activists:

Want to do something? Go here:

Ignorance Making You Ill? Cure It!

for links, tools, & instructions about how to contact a pile of different people, and how to send a link to this story right here ( or anywhere else ) to a "mass email" using Outlook Express.

18 posted on 02/15/2002 3:26:47 PM PST by backhoe
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To: alex
Better yet, I hope Bush has the spine to veto this trash!!
19 posted on 02/15/2002 3:50:36 PM PST by DLfromthedesert
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Comment #20 Removed by Moderator


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