Killing an important check

Posted on March 30, 2004 in Campaign 2004 Liberty

It’s politics Tuesday!

The Republican National Committee thinks that McCarthyism is back in vogue. The People last voted them out of office in 1954. It took forty years before they were able to “take back” Congress. Now they are attempting to keep it by undermining freedom of speech.

New Federal Election rules would prevent all kinds of Section 527 organizations — think non-profit education groups of all political stripes — from making any comment critical of any candidate for Federal office or the pResident. In other words, the Bush Administration is throwing its weight behind an effort to silence alternative sources of information about the effects its policies have.

Both the Congress and the courts have rejected previous attempts to impose such rules. People for the American Way state:

These changes would impoverish political debate and could act as a de facto “gag rule” on public policy advocacy. They would insulate public officials from substantive criticism for their positions on policy issues. They would actually diminish civic participation in government rather than strengthen it. This would be exactly the opposite result intended by most supporters of campaign finance reform.

Perhaps this is what Bush intends: to reduce participation in government by you and me.

Want to protect your rights to own a gun? You will be affected. Want to know whether your legislator voted to raise your taxes? You will be affected. Want to see a balanced budget and know if your representative’s votes contributed towards this goal? You will be affected. Pro-life? You will be affected. This isn’t just a liberal issue: it stretches across the political spectrum. The Bush Administration just doesn’t want you to know what is happening in Washington.

There’s time to protest. Do it now and do it loud. First, read the proposed rules for yourself. Then read up on the issue at People for the American Way. See what campaign finance champion Common Cause thinks about the participation of 527 groups and why it sees it as nothing more than an attempt to hobble the Democrats. See how the Federal Election Commission is practising Administrative Activism by making regulation not in keeping with the spirit of Congress and the courts.

Then send an email to Ms. Mai T. Dinh, Acting Assistant General Counsel urging the committee to reject the rules. For your comment to count, it must contain your full name, electronic mail address, and postal service address.

Get on the phone. Call your Senators and Representatives. Write a letter to the editor. Pass the PFAW URL on to your friends and family. And