Posted by
on Thursday, January 18, 2007 4:21:41 PM
Leave it to some thin-skinned senator to introduce legislation to register bloggers with the government:
(Hat-Tip: To Professor Reynolds)
S.1 has been introduced in the Senate as "lobbying reform" -- which in this case means "First Amendment infringements." An amendment has been attached, which requires registration of bloggers with more than 500 readers, and who comment on policy issues. Violation would be a criminal offense.
I looked it up on the Library of Congress webpage (which is essentially unlinkable) and have attached section 220 in extended remarks, below. As the bill is reported, it appears to cover any "paid" grassroots lobbying, that reaches more than 500 people. But a blogger who receives contributions might be classed as a "paid" grassroots type. It looks like Congress wants to keep an eye on annoying people like Porkbusters. It may be significant that S.1 was introduced by Harry Reid, one of the Kings of Pork.
Of Arms And The Law has the bill details that applies to us. PLEASE, go read it because this is a clear measure to silence any critics of the government, like us and other bloggers. Professor Reynolds also notes that with the push to bring the so-called "fairness doctrine" back, this is definitely a move to quash our freedom of speech.
For those that believe this is a smart move, you are nuts. The Framers assembled the First Amendment to protect our right to dissent against the government. Too many liberally-minded people have overextended the right to "freedom of speech." It does not apply to pornography, unwillingly taxpayer-funded obscene art, or even the ability for us to say as many four-letter, colorful metaphors as we wish.
The First Amendment, and every aspect of it, deals with the freedom for us to engage in political speech. READ the First Amendment, and you will see that each provision deals with how we can interact with our government, and what we can do to criticize it when we feel that they are out of line.
Now, here is some details about S.1. S.1 is the Senate's ethics reform package, and Section 220 specifically details the efforts that will be gone through to register, track, and oversee blogs affected by this legislation. It is sponsored by Sen. Harry Reid, which Of Arms And The Law notes that he is one of the biggest porkers on Capitol Hill. But what is more telling are the co-sponsors. The following list is of the co-sponsors of the bill, and we might want to take note of these people. A few of them are pretty big porkers themselves:
Maria Cantwell-WA
Richard Durbin-IL
Frank Lautenberg-NJ
JoeLieberman-CT (Independent caucusing with Democrats)
Barbara Mikulski-MD
Chuck Schumer-NY
Jim Webb-VA
Sherrod Brown-OH
Dianne Feinstein-CA
Patrick Leahy-VT
Robert Menendez-NJ
Ken Salazar-CO
Debbie Stabenow-MI
Robert Bennett-UT
Mitch McConnell-KY
Susan Collins-ME
Trent Lott-TN
Now, we are not surprised to see the list of Democrats involved in this bill. The Republicans, on the other hand, does surprise us as Mitch McConnell is on the list. And while this is ethics reform, which is desperately needed in Congress, Section 220 either needs to be amended, or removed. Blogs and grass-roots movements should not be registered with the government unless they fall into certain categories, as Swift Boat Vets For Truth did in 2004. They were a non-profit group that was registered with the government, and rightly so. They were directly involved in the election, and efforts to undermine John Kerry.
But other groups, such as Porkbusters, are not politically active in the realm that would directly affect ethics reform. The sole goal of Porkbusters is to point out the pork-barrel spedning in Washington, and the ineffective waste of taxpayer money on projects the the federal government should not be funding.
But to target blogs because they may have 500 readers is pure stupidity. I guess the Senate forgot about the efforts of Bill Frist in the last Congress to have blogs legally classified as media outlets, granting them First Amendment protections as such. If we are to be registered, and targeted, why not the New York Times or the Chicago Tribune?
This bill needs to be amended, and Section 220 needs to be removed. Get on the phones--202-225-3121 and raise some heck over this. Stop these people from trying to quash our right to criticize these people, and our right to know what they are doing up on the Hill.
Marcie
UPDATE: WELCOME Instapundit readers!!!
UPDATE: Welcome Worcester County Freedom Trail readers!!
UPDATE: The Bennett Amendment has passed, and bloggers can breathe a sigh of relief. They will NOT be treated as lobbyists by Congress's new ethics bill.
(Hat-tip: Professor Reynolds)
THE BENNETT AMENDMENT has passed the Senate, which I believe puts an end -- for the moment -- to worries that bloggers will be treated as lobbyists. Note the party breakdown. (Via Jason Pye).
UPDATE: Professor Bainbridge thinks those worries were bogus all along.
While we do, indeed, respect our betters, the fact remains that had people not taken notice of this, no one would have known anything about this part of the ethics pacakge. THIS is what it means to be aware of what is going on in Congress.
Oh, and a special note to those who criticized my husband earlier regaridng this issue in the chats: He was correct, and you were wrong. Deal with it. A little research into something goes a long way, and based on what we do know, sen. McConnell's last interview we heard, this topic did not even come up. Not that we are tossing accusations around, but something this constraining to the public should have been brought up by the new Senate Minority Leader, do we not agree?
Marcie