Big Victory
So, the Federal Eelection Committee has decided to exempt us bloggers from the restrictions of campaign finance laws.
In other words, the government has decided to reward us with our basic constitutional rights. Big victory.
posted by LAGuy @ 3:22 PM
4 Comments:
Might have been a good test case had they voted the other way--Though I am not too sanguine about how this court would have voted- The liberals are not liberal on this issue and I fear the Bushies would raise some national security issue so the not quite libertarian justices might support it as well.
One of the reasons liberals are not liberal on this issue is that they figure (though they're probably wrong) getting "money out of politics" will help get more Democrats elected.
I should add the exemption for the press (including blogs now) from campaign finance laws is hypocritical. But to have the laws apply to, say, corporations that publish magazines or newspapers so clearly strips bare campaign finance laws for what it is--the end of First Amendment protection--that they don't dare do it.
My point was actually about liberal justices who have I think different reasons for wanting to control speech in elections.
Of course, Passing laws for "fairness" in order to benefit one party's prospects is hardly an affliction solely applicable to democrats. The Republicans are equally guilty on their positions on labor union money and voter IDS. And whats more either party would have no problem adopting the complete 180 of their current position if it advanced their prospects.
I certainly agree that both parties pull out principles that just happen to fit what will get them elected.
Also, the (so-called) liberal Justices have even less excuse than the liberal legislators who passed campaign finance. They balanced an actual right (freedom of speech) with a non-existent right (I'm still not sure what it is--the right to feel confident in your government?) and decided the real right essentially didn't exist.
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