By Luke WachobDiscussions of campaign finance regulation usually bring to mind images of smoke-filled rooms and wealthy donors — the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson on the Right, and Michael Bloomberg, Tom Steyer, and George Soros on the Left. They never seem to include people like Diana Hsieh.Hsieh is a Colorado resident with a Ph.D. She organized the nonprofit Coalition for Secular Government with her friend Ari Armstrong and plans to raise and spend no more than $3,500 to update and disseminate a paper they authored criticizing “personhood” ballot measures, including one in Colorado, that restrict a woman’s right to abortion.Most people would praise Hsieh for getting involved in an issue that matters to her. Regardless of your views on personhood, joining together with like-minded citizens to discuss issues of public concern is exactly the kind of political participation that we should encourage in a democracy. Unfortunately, Colorado makes it nearly impossible for most citizens to exercise their basic First Amendment rights.That’s because Colorado forces groups such as CSG to comply with burdensome “issue committee” regulations designed to hook much bigger fish.
