In what sounds like a comedy sketch from Jon Stewart's Daily Show, but isn't, the U. S. Senate would impose criminal penalties, even jail time, on grassroots causes and citizens who criticize Congress.
Section 220 of S. 1, the lobbying reform bill currently before the Senate, would require grassroots causes, even bloggers, who communicate to 500 or more members of the public on policy matters, to register and report quarterly to Congress the same as the big K Street lobbyists. Section 220 would amend existing lobbying reporting law by creating the most expansive intrusion on First Amendment rights ever. For the first time in history,
critics of Congress will need to register and report with Congress itself.
The bill would require reporting of 'paid efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying,' but defines 'paid' merely as communications to 500 or more members of the public, with no other qualifiers. Does a Tip Jar count?
On January 9, the Senate passed Amendment 7 to S. 1, to create criminal penalties, including up to one year in jail, if someone 'knowingly and willingly fails to file or report.' That amendment was introduced by Senator David Vitter (R-LA). Senator Vitter, however, is now a co-sponsor of Amendment 20 by Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) to remove Section 220 from the bill. Unless Amendment 20 succeeds, the Senate will have criminalized the exercise of First Amendment rights. We'd be living under totalitarianism, not democracy.
Thousands of nonprofit leaders, bloggers, and other citizens have hammered the Senate with calls in opposition to Section 220, which seeks to silence the grassroots. The criminal provisions will scare citizens into silence.
The legislation regulates small, legitimate nonprofits, bloggers, and individuals, but creates loopholes for corporations, unions, and large membership organizations that would be able to spend literally hundreds of millions of dollars, yet not report. Congress is trying to blame the grassroots, which are American citizens engaging in their First Amendment rights, for Washington's internal corruption problems.
#7
McCain-Feingold was clearly unconstitutional. Likewise a lot of 'emminent domain' siezures. The government decides what is or is not Constitutional. And that, my friends, is the real reason the Second Amendment was written - to make it possible for the People to reclaim the Constitution from the government. But the Founders did not forsee 'government schools.' Arrrggghhh!!!
#8
OK, so let us suppose that this POS actually passes; where is the bureacracy that will actually count blognoses: everybody here use the same nym, but each will have a subtle id : JOE IS ALL CAPS, f'instance, TW would have tea and crumpet reference buried somewheres... the avg IQ and Macgyver Quotient here @ the burg is higher than the Total of all the donks. Having to parse each entry for IP address would be too hard. But there could always be a slave computer that all would route to, so all posts would come from that slave; then the burg population would = 1!
#1
"A former president who didnt do what I would expect him to do - with a full staff at his disposal to find out the facts before he took up the side of this person."
What makes you think he didn't have the facts - and interceded anyway?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/18/2007 19:28 Comments ||
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#2
And Bush can't intercede on behalf of border patrol men doing their duty? Aarrgghhh!!!
Fox is under siege again by the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR] the Saudi funded Wahhabist pressure group from whose loins sprung convicted terrorists Ghassan Elashi, Randal Todd "Ismael" Royer and Bassem Khafagi...among others.
Note to Boston Herald columnist Lauren Beckham Falcone [Fox's face of terror: Muslims voice concern over portrayal of terrorists on '24'] who according to her bio "covers pop culture, style and all things feature-y for Boston Herald." Let others do the heavy lifting on this subject in the future honey because you obviously don't have a clue and worse, were ridden hard and put up wet in this matter by the very group that through your [along with your editor's] inattention to detail have been given undeserved legitimacy.
One of the scenes which might have offended CAIR on night one of the new 24 run was a classic, with star Kiefer Sutherland's character [as we noted yesterday] Jack Bauer literally chewing the throat out of an Islamic terrorist, then spitting out the bloody gore with a look of pure malevolence.
In our opinion it was the best thing to happen on television in a very long time, giving both a civics lesson in the proper deportment towards terrorist scum while at the same time allowing a glimpse of red-blooded American masculinity defending the homeland.
#3
"Ridden hard and put up wet" is a description of over-working a horse and not caring for it afterward.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
01/18/2007 11:26 Comments ||
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#4
I'm writing Fox again today. I wrote to Fox in 2005 complaining when they caved into CAIR's demand to issue a PSA designed to smooth the ruffled feathers of a few muslim vultures.
Today's letter will be preemptive. Today I'm asking them to put a hold on any stupid idea that another bogus PSA is needed to pacify the muslims.
Is a PSA put out to placate the NAACP when any of a dozen tv crime shows depict black criminals? No.
Stop the dhimmitude. Stop the appeasement. Stop it now.
Just got off the phone with my wife. To show my family puts it's money where it's mouth is, my wife is selling her 75 shares of Northwest Airlines. At a freaking loss, thank you. Why? NWA caved real quick to CAIR and the 40 muslims in Germany that showed up 20 minutes before take off and were "humiliated" when NWA didn't hold the plane for their asses to get back to Detroit from the hajj. NWA = cowardice personified.
How many folk here at RB think NWA will be happy to hold the plane for you when you show up at the counter 20 minutes before take-off? Give me a show of hands?
Posted by: Mark Z ||
01/18/2007 12:32 Comments ||
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#5
I don't see no hands.
I know a guy who had to fight his way onto a plane when he showed up at the ticket counter 59 minutes before the flight. The rules say 60 minutes, you know.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/18/2007 12:57 Comments ||
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#6
If its any consolation, NWA is, I believe, the biggest US flag carrier operating Airbust aircraft. And I also believe that on a percentage basis, their passenger jets are mainly Airbust also. And their flight attendants are ugly.
#7
In what episode does Bauer take down CAIR, faster please
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/18/2007 14:38 Comments ||
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#8
The last time I rode NWA every bloody seat was filled with a wide backside, and my seat was broken... all the way from Cincinnati to Hong Kong -- worst maintenance and lack of cleanliness I've seen on an airline with international pretensions. I hope they've mproved since the late '90s, as it looks like they're set to buy Delta, darn it!
I'm shocked and pleased that Fox is in this brouhaha. After all, some 5% (or at least a significant but non-controlling number) of shares are held by one of the Saudi princelings, who has boasted that Fox management is very responsive to his suggestions and concerns.
#9
Let NWA become the official Muz carrier. I'm with USN, if I see that the aircraft is an Airbust, I change flights. Have you ever noticed the weird gawddamn noises emanating from the bowels of these things ? Something's trying to break all the damn time. I swore off these lepers years ago. Let the Muz pile aboard. What we need is more NWA accidents.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
