Free Republic

Sen. Charles Schumer, the sponsor of the stalled campaign finance bill, promised Tuesday that Democrats would hold round-after-round of votes on it until it passes.

Responding to charges of inaccuracy from Rep. Joe Sestak's Senate campaign, two Pittsburgh-area television stations have agreed to stop airing a commercial, sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which sharply attacks the Democrat's voting record

Brown Opposes DISCLOSE Act In Response Letter Dear Members of the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, League of Women Voters, and Public Citizen: Thank you for your letter in which you urge me to support the DISCLOSE Act. As stated in your letter, my election to the U.S. Senate sent a message that the American people are tired of the politics-as-usual mentality, and want to restore real checks and balances in Washington. Unfortunately, the DISCLOSE Act does not do enough to require transparency, accountability and fair play. Therefore, I cannot support the DISCLOSE Act. Rather than reform our...

Dear Ted: First, I personally thank you for the valuable work you have done, and are doing, for the Second Amendment. You have used your talent, success, wit, and celebrity to fight for our freedoms. Additionally, you are a member of the Board of Directors of the NRA. So this letter is directed to you in strictly that capacity. Why? Because I believe that you will listen. And you have the standing and respect within the NRA to actually do something regarding the issues I’d like to bring to your attention. We at JPFO recently received a letter from an...

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR5175, also known as the Disclose Act, by a 219-206 vote. "Disclose," you see, is an acronym for "Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections." The measure's author, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., also happens to chair the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee -- so you know that the bill has nothing to do with helping Democrats retain their seats. (Just kidding.) Two Republicans voted for the measure; 36 Democrats voted against it. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it deserves to molder. This bill may have passed...

Leave it to Rep Hank Johnson (D-GA), yes that Hank Johnson, to tell everybody exactly why some in congress want so desperately to restrict businesses free speech: Yup. Its all about rigging the election process. Which is just a bit unconstitutional as Cubachi points out: But we all know this bill is unconstitutional because its purpose is to undo the Supreme Court’s decision in January, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The Court said corporations, unions, and non-profits like the Tea Party and conservative groups are free to use their money to express themselves, especially with the November elections coming....

A firestorm was ignited this week when it was announced that House Democrats had carved out an exemption for the National Rifle Association in proposed new federal campaign legislation and that the NRA was no longer going to oppose the bill... ... "snip" ... NRA's opposition to the rape of the First Amendment should not be based solely on how such rape will affect them directly, but also how it will affect the movement as a whole, their state affiliates and fellow rights organizations – and the integrity of the Constitution itself. When they accepted this deal, NRA abdicated the...

The House just passed the DISCLOSE Act, by a vote of 219-206. As with so much in this Congress, the only thing bipartisan about the bill was the opposition to it.

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 17, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Delayed, but not undaunted, the leadership of the Democrat-controlled U.S. Congress may force a Thursday vote on a new campaign finance bill, the Orwellian-named “Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act” that has pro-life, pro-family groups, and even the ACLU crying foul. Critics say the measure will have a chilling effect on political free speech, especially with mid-term elections just around the corner. Late Wednesday afternoon, National Right to Life Legislative Director Douglas Johnson told LifeSiteNews.com that the House Rules Committee was meeting at that moment to make...

Lars Larson grills Wayne LaPierre on the NRA's controversial decision to make a deal with House Democrats and the Obama Administration in exchange for not opposing a new campaign-finance bill. The DISCLOSE ACT is back on the calendar for tomorrow June 23, 2010 Sources are reporting that the vote is expected to take place tonight or tomorrow.

Washington is shocked top Democrats gave the National Rifle Association – one of the most powerful lobbies in town – its own loophole in legislation designed to increase disclosure requirements on campaign spending following the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The untold story is that Democrats assuaged organized labor’s early opposition to the bill by tailoring its provisions to eke out space for unions. For example, restrictions on companies that received government bailouts during the financial crisis apply to businesses, but not unions: Under the DISCLOSE Act, General Motors can’t tell you who to vote for, but the United Auto...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683           Response from David Keene, NRA First Vice President, to DISCLOSE Act Criticism "As an NRA member, I am writing to express my outrage that the NRA would do a backroom deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to regulate and limit the First Amendment right to political free speech of other groups, while carving out an exemption for the NRA. Your unsavory and unprincipled deal with the Democratic leadership makes it likely that the House will now pass the DISCLOSE Act, H. R. 5175. Besides being unconstitutional, the DISCLOSE Act could...

Just as opposition was building in the House to the unconstitutional and burdensome DISCLOSE Act, which is intended to help Democrats in the November election by stifling the political speech of corporations and many non-profit advocacy organizations (but not unions), the NRA has apparently sold out.  Politico and others are reporting that the NRA has reached a deal to withdraw its opposition to the bill in exchange for an exemption for the NRA from its disclosure provisions. The exemption would apply to “organizations which have qualified as having tax exempt status under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code for each of the...

One of most ironic and stupid things about Congress is its propensity to name bills in a manner that has nothing to do with the substance of the bill. One example is the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009. It had nothing to do with responsibility. The newest boondoggle is a monstrosity called DISCLOSE. It stands for Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act, or DISCLOSE Act. It won't strengthen democracy and it wouldn't cast light on anything. An analysis reported in the WSJ shows how wrong things would go. The Disclose Act exacerbates many of these...

As is par for the course these days from an Aminstration drunk with power, Congress is set to pass legislation that would ultimately lead to a clamp down on free speech. More specifically, it would lead to a policing and patrolling of bloggers writing about politics. Disguised as the DISCLOSE Act, we are told the original intent was to counteract some of the findings from the Citizens United decision where the Supreme Court rejected disparate treatment of media corporations and other corporations (including nonprofit groups) in campaign finance law. “Differential treatment of media corporations and other corporations cannot be squared...

Both FOIA lawsuits by Bloomberg & FoxNews to force the Federal Reserve to reveal the names of participants in its emergency lending programs are on appeal. Bloomberg won at the trial level and FoxNews lost. Link to Reuters article.

WASHINGTON - John McCain's campaign is asking staff members to disclose all previous lobbying ties following the resignation of two officials linked to a firm that worked for Myanmar's military junta. A memo from McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, also instructs staff to make certain they are no longer registered as lobbyists or foreign agents. It was issued following the resignations of Doug Goodyear, who was to run the Republican National Convention, and Doug Davenport, a regional campaign director for the mid-Atlantic states. Both worked for DCI Group, a consulting firm hired to improve the image of Myanmar's military junta....

RICHMOND, Va. - For the past five years, Sen. George Allen (news, bio, voting record), has failed to tell Congress about stock options he got for his work as a director of a high-tech company. The Virginia Republican also asked the Army to help another business that gave him similar options. Congressional rules require senators to disclose to the Senate all deferred compensation, such as stock options. The rules also urge senators to avoid taking any official action that could benefit them financially or appear to do so. Those requirements exist so the public can police lawmakers for possible conflicts...

SAN FRANCISCO Google Inc. is paying The Associated Press for stories and photographs, settling a dispute with a major provider of the copyrighted news that the online search engine finds and displays on its popular Web site. Both Mountain View-based Google and New York-based AP disclosed the business relationship Wednesday. But neither would divulge financial terms or other details because of a nondisclosure agreement. Google indicated AP's content will serve as the foundation for a new product that will be introduced in the coming months as complement to its popular Google News service. That aspect of the deal could be...

Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, chairman of the influential House Ways and Means Committee, was set to announce Monday whether he would retire from Congress or seek a 15th term. Thomas, 64, scheduled a morning news conference in his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., amid speculation that he would leave the House of Representatives. Because of House Republicans' self-imposed term limits for committee chairmen, the mercurial but brainy former college professor is serving his last year as head of the powerful committee that writes tax laws. GOP officials are working under the assumption that Thomas will retire, according to a Republican election...