Fellow Patriot, The "Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act" or the DISCLOSE Act, which should be renamed the "Establishment Protection Act", is yet another attack on our free speech and political liberty. This act affects ALL people and organizations. The bill, Sponsored by Maryland Representative Chris Van Hollen has moved out of committee and currently has 114 Cosponsors. It is currently on its way to the House floor for a vote. You see, if there is one thing the establishment hates, it is watching its hand-picked candidates be held accountable for their records on liberty issues. They want their Big Government power grabs to go unnoticed. After watching some of their favorites go down in flames in race after race these past few months and seeing their statist schemes like Cap and Tax grind to a halt as a result of a massive uprising by liberty-loving Americans, they plan to strike back. In a move that has dire consequences for our First Amendment right to freedom of speech and for Campaign for Liberty's ability to fight for our freedoms, incumbent politicians have colluded with a super-sized establishment lobbying group, the National Rifle Association, to push H.R. 5175, the DISCLOSE ACT, or as I like to call it, the "Establishment Protection Act," through the House of Representatives as soon as this week. According to Politico, the NRA bargained for an exemption for itself and other large, established groups while trampling the rights of private citizens, new groups (like Campaign for Liberty), and small organizations. As John Bresnahan reports, "The proposal would exempt organizations that have more than 1 million members, have been in existence for more than 10 years, have members in all 50 states and raise 15 percent or less of their funds from corporations... The NRA, with 4 million members, will not actively oppose the DISCLOSE Act, according to Democratic sources." RedState's Erick Erickson mentions one of our Regional Conference sponsors when saying, "I support Gun Owners of America, which is a consistent and uncompromising defender of the second amendment, not a weak little girl of an organization protecting itself while throwing everyone else under the bus." Another pro-gun organization friendly to Campaign for Liberty, the National Association for Gun Rights, said in a national email, "And frankly, this craven deal by the NRA will damage our gun rights and our free speech rights." As we hold politicians accountable and put them on record with our issue discussion program, the Establishment Protection Act will force organizations like C4L to turn over the names of their "top" donors for exercising our First Amendment rights. You see, they are targeting groups like Campaign for Liberty because they think their "right" to hold office is more important than your rights to privacy and free speech. Campaign for Liberty has experienced tremendous growth this past year, and the establishment knows we are out there every day fighting back against its statist power grabs. They watch as we inform you which candidates support the Constitution and which candidates refuse to take a stand on liberty issues. And they know we won't play their Washington game of trading principle for power. They want to silence us once and for all by going after our donors. Campaign for Liberty will not be silenced, and we will lead the fight against the Establishment Protection Act so you have the right to speak freely without your name and personal information being turned over to Big Brother. HR 5175 is written to ensure freedom groups cannot rally their members by forcing them to disclose their membership rosters and donor lists. These mandates apply to individuals and groups which make independent donations or promote their favored candidate outside the realm of the official campaigns, namely Grassroots activism. HR 5175 amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Title I; Section 103 of the bill defines "contributions" as any payments by any person (except a candidate, a candidate's authorized committee, or a political committee of a political party) for "coordinated communications". Section 103 clarifies "coordinated communications as being a publicly distributed or disseminated communication referring to a clearly identified candidate for federal office which is made during a specified election period in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate, a candidate's authorized committee, or a political committee of a political party; or any communication that republishes, disseminates, or distributes, in whole or in part, any broadcast or any written, graphic, or other form of campaign material prepared by a candidate, a candidate's authorized committee, or their agents. This changes the meaning of contributions to mean a donation by the average American, or political grassroots supporter to an unaffiliated organization who intends to act on merely a suggestion of a candidate. Title 2: Subtitle A, Sec. 201 revises the definition of "independent expenditure" in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to mean any expenditure that, when taken as a whole, expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, or is the functional equivalent of express advocacy, and requires any person making "independent expenditures" exceeding $10,000 must file a report electronically within 24 hours or if you make an "independent expenditure" over $1,000 less than 20 days before an election. This means if you or your organization pays for a billboard, takes out an ad or promotes your own on-line web campaign for or against a candidate that exceeds $10,000 or $1000 20 days before a campaign, you will have to file a report with the FEC within 24 hours. Title III: Sec. 301 further erodes free speech by requiring organizations to disclose to shareholders, members, or donors information on disbursements for campaign-related activity and requiring organizations that maintain an Internet site to post a hyperlink from its homepage to the location on the FEC website containing information required to be reported with respect to public independent expenditures, including disbursements for electioneering communications. This means the Government can create a list of all people who donate to all organizations who support political campaigns so they can post it on the FEC website, then that organization has to link to the respective information, on the FEC website, from their site. This will be an excellent way to build a list and keep track of political opponents for future targeting and harassment. HR 5175 only creates one more list, alongside the other lists the government keeps like the terrorist watch list and the no-fly list.
Oppose DISCLOSE! or BIG BROTHER WILL BE WATCHING! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE! The House Passed this horrid legislation on June 24, 2010. We will have to continue this fight into the Senate.
You can find the Role Call on the House Vote here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll391.xml Please continute to sign the petition so that we can send it to our Senators.
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Whereas, HR 5175 the "Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act" or the DISCLOSE Act is yet another attack on our free speech and political liberty; and Whereas, HR 5175 affects ALL people and organizations; and Whereas, HR 5175 is written to ensure freedom groups cannot rally their members by forcing them to disclose their membership rosters and donor lists; and Whereas, HR 5175 applies to individuals and groups which make independent donations or promote their favored candidate outside the realm of the official campaigns, namely Grassroots activism; and Whereas, HR 5175 allows the Government to create a list of all people who donate to all organizations who support political campaigns so they can post it on the FEC website; and Whereas, HR 5175 forces an organization to link to their respective information, on the FEC website, from their site; and Whereas, HR 5175 will allow the government to build a list and keep track of political opponents for future targeting and harassment; and Whereas, All citizens have the right to speak freely without your name and personal information being turned over to Big Brother; and THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, We, the citizens of the United States of America use our Constitutionally protected right to petition our representatives to defend and uphold our First Amendment right to free speech and vote against H.R. 5175, the Establishment Protection Act.
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