Category: Free Speech
Democrats fear open debate. They decry those "outside groups," i.e., associations of citizens---who want to be heard on "wasteful government spending" by running ads espousing their views.
"Voters seeing the ads won't know who's paying for them, or what the sponsoring group is all about, or whether there's any merit to the arguments. But a $4.1-million ad buy is going to get noticed, and it's going to affect public opinion." Read more »
After more than two months of controversy over a firing that should have never have happened, [Dr. Kenneth Howell of the University of Illinois] has been offered his job back. The turnaround underscores the scandal that continues at core institutions of our Western culture. The incident exposes, once again, the lie that is the popular conception of “tolerance,” so conventionally in vogue and by no coincidence a tenet of left-wing ideology. . .
There are many reasons why the DISCLOSE Act should have (and did) fail to advance in the Senate. But it is unfortunately not surprising to learn that Senator Reid still says that it was needed to stop foreign nationals from contributing for political speech. As reported in the WSJ:
"Mr. Reid issued a statement this week charging that his Republican opposition to the measure would "let foreign interests buy U.S. elections." Read more »
Add the DISCLOSE Act to the stack of legislation that may die in the Senate for fear of alienating more Democrat voters before the November election. The DISCLOSE Act is Congress' attempt to subvert the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC from earlier this year. The decision caused controversy after President Obama's comments about the decision drew a reaction from a Surpeme Court Justice attending his State of the Union address. Read more »
The Alliance Defense Fund is predicting that John Roberts is writing the opinion in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. The case involved a challenge to a campus policy that prohibitted a student group from requiring members to sign a statement of faith. If the Chief Justice is in fact writing the opinion as they suggest, it could be good news for the Christian Legal Society's chances of winning the case. Read more »
Liberal groups were up in arms when the Democrats agreed to exempt the NRA from many of the DISCLOSE Act's provisions in exchange for the NRA's committment to remove its opposition to the legislation. But what is often lost in this shuffle, is the fact that many liberal groups have their own exemptions. In particular, unions.
The National Review offers this op-ed about the DISCLOSE Act, the Democrats attempt to subvert the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC. The vote, originally scheduled for Friday, was cancelled after a series of setback for Democrats, that included fallout over the move to exempt the NRA from many of the bills provisions to remove the NRA's opposition to the legislation.
"But even faced with these valid arguments the NRA's walking away from this fight is hard to swallow. As NRA board member Cleta Mitchell puts it, the First Amendment is a principle, not merely an issue. Also, Van Hollen's deal is so clearly unfair, and the NRA, by dropping its objection to the bill, is indirectly using unfair means to protect gun rights. NRA lobbyists say they are just looking out for their members. Read more »
