Anti-gun Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) is giving voters yet another reason why he must be defeated in November.
Preparing for heavy losses in the general election, anti-gun Democrat leaders like Reid and Charles Schumer (D-NY) appear to be readying for a vote on the so-called DISCLOSE Act, possibly this week.
While Reid has not yet officially taken the necessary steps to move the bill, his communications director sent out this Tweet on Tuesday: “We’re debating DISCLOSE Act tomorrow [Wednesday] w/ vote Thursday.”
You may recall that the DISCLOSE Act, which passed the House in June, died in the Senate in July after an intense lobbying effort by Gun Owners of America and other groups.
The bill, sponsored by Schumer, puts severe and unconstitutional limits on GOA’s ability to hold individual congressmen accountable in the weeks leading up to an election.
Instead of protecting the most important type of speech protected by the First Amendment — political speech — this bill would force groups like GOA to “disclose” the names of donors in certain political advertisements.
Since Gun Owners of America is not willing to disclose its membership lists to the Federal Election Commission, we could be prohibited from running radio or TV ads exposing a federal candidate’s voting record within 60 days of a general election.
This is just another attempt by pathetic, anti-gun politicians to save their jobs before the political earthquake in November strikes.
And, as has been the case so often over the past two years, Reid, Schumer and Co. are using the rules of the Senate to bring the bill directly to the floor. There have been no committee hearings to debate the merits of the bill, thus the American people have no opportunity to see just how egregiously DISCLOSE violates the Constitution.
While the bill does contain a controversial provision to exempt the National Rifle Association, GOA remains adamantly opposed to it on constitutional grounds.
Please urge your Senators to protect ALL of the Bill of Rights. Remind them that your ability to protect the Second Amendment relies on the safeguards of the First Amendment.
ACTION: Please contact your Senators and urge them to oppose the DISCLOSE Act. You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Senators the pre-written e-mail message below.
—– Pre-written letter —–
Dear Senator:
I stand with Gun Owners of America in opposing Senator Schumer’s so-called DISCLOSE Act.
This bill was defeated once in the Senate, but now anti-gun Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to bring it back to the floor for another vote.
The DISCLOSE Act is just another attempt by politicians to cling to their jobs by silencing groups like Gun Owners of America.
And, as has been the case so often over the past two years, Reid, Schumer and Co. are using the rules of the Senate to bring the bill directly to the floor. There have been no committee hearings to debate the merits of the bill, thus the American people have no opportunity to see just how the ironically named DISCLOSE Act violates the Constitution.
Gun Owners of America represents the views of hundreds of thousands of Second Amendment supporters. Any bill that squelched the free speech rights of groups like GOA is also an attack on my rights.
Please vote NO on Sen. Schumer’s DISCLOSE Act.
Sincerely,
The Senate will likely vote on the DISCLOSE Act again TODAY. That’s why we’re sending this message earlier than normal. It’s urgent that you act quickly.
Incumbents banded together in 2002 to make it effectively a crime, punishable by jail, for a non-profit group like DownsizeDC.org to broadcast issue ads during the final days of an election campaign.
The Supreme Court fixed this problem earlier this year, getting something right for a change. In the Citizens United case they restored the right of non-profit corporations like DownsizeDC.org, Inc., to broadcast issue ads during elections.
The name of the case fits. Non-wealthy CITIZENS are UNITED in organizations: They band together using their First Amendment rights of association and press to publish and broadcast their opinions. Bad laws have forced we citizens into a legal cul de sac, where WE NEED CORPORATIONS LIKE CITIZENS UNITED AND DOWNSIZE DC TO HELP US ACHIEVE OUR GOAL OF BEING HEARD. But . . .
In this year when most Americans want to fire Congress, the incumbent politicians are making a last ditch effort to protect incumbency — by chilling dissent. Here’s what’s at stake . . .
Because DownsizeDC.org is un-willing to expose its list of supporters (your name) to the Federal Election Commission we would be PROHIBITED from running ads exposing a candidate’s record.
We explain, in greater detail, how this law would affect the groups you love most at the web page opposing the anti-First Amendment DISCLOSE Act.
To create artificial demand for this terrible bill, numerous politicians, including the President, have lied about the Citizens United decision. It’s time to call them on it — literally.
First, send them a letter RIGHT NOW. Here’s what I wrote using DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System:
There has been a massive disinformation campaign designed to push through this anti-First Amendment bill.
* Some Representatives and Senators have said that the Citizens United ruling overturned 100 years of law, when it fact it merely overturned a 20-year old decision. http://tinyurl.com/2f9c4qq
* Many of these same incumbent politicians claimed that now major corporations, like BP, would be able to buy our elections (one of your members even said bribery was now legal!).
* Which is richly ironic, because . . .
a) The DISCLOSE Act only restricts regular-sized non-profits while exempting behemoths like the NRA and AARP, and . . . http://tinyurl.com/2vxe23w
b) Major commercial corporations have always held tremendous sway over our government, and any pretense that they don’t insults my intelligence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
Face it: The DISCLOSE Act is about NOTHING MORE THAN CHILLING DISSENT.
And I’m in on the secret.
If you vote for this bill then it means you want to disenfranchise the little guy for the benfit of yourself and big special interests.
There’s a better alternative. As James Madison said Federalist No.10, the best way to counter the influence of tremendous wealth, and the concentrated benefits that big corporations seek, is to foster the freedom for many voices to join the political fray. That’s why the First Amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law,” that even “abridges” (remotely infringes) on my rights of association and expression — NO LAW.
I emphatically urge you to work and vote for a filibuster, and failing that, to work as hard as you can to defeat the DISCLOSE Act.
END LETTER
Second, because the vote is occurring today, PLEASE ALSO CALL YOUR SENATORS ON THE PHONE. Their numbers are provided on the same page where you send your letter to Congress, if you’re logged-in to your account.
Remember to tell them you’re a constituent of theirs, and to be brief, polite, but forceful.
Please pass this message on to others, removing the information below my signature so no one accidentally unsubscribes you. Also, if you have a blog, please repost this information.
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
Conservative Libertarian Outpost 