Late today came two developments that fans of the First Amendment should care about.
In the Live Free or Die State, the New Hampshire House of Representatives quickly shot down a bill that represented a serious assault on the First Amendment and political speech. The bill was approved by the New Hampshire Senate earlier today and would have required corporations to get the approval of their boards of directors before speaking, and also forced them to register with the state. Perhaps the best quote to come from the debate in New Hampshire was provided by Democratic State Representative James Splaine, who said:
“I find it shameful that the Senate has already approved this today, and I would be sad if the House went along,” Splaine urged. “We’re creating a bureaucracy that does very little, but create hoops and loops for groups. If all of the T’s are not crossed and all of the I’s are not dotted, they’ll be brought into court.”
A tip of the hat to Representative Splaine and all his colleagues and fellow Granite Staters who stood up for the First Amendment!
On the other hand, the right to praise or criticize politicians appears to be less valued in Congress at the moment. Also not very high on the priorities list, at least for the self-styled campaign finance “reformers” who are insisting that the DISCLOSE Act is just about “transparency,” is – well, transparency.
Hotline On Call reports this afternoon that House Democrats are huddling behind closed doors with the National Rifle Association and labor unions to try to arrive at some sort of compromise on just how much of the First Amendment can be traded away (OK, maybe that’s just my take). From the report:
Final sticking points over a measure to curb some campaign spending and promote more robust disclosure are being negotiated with key stakeholder groups as sponsors hope to see the bill hit the House floor next week, after making it through the House Rules Committee.
Backers of the DISCLOSE Act, sponsored by DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), are negotiating with the National Rifle Association and with national labor unions in hopes of softening their concerns over the bill.
Sources largely refused to discuss what concerns the outside groups had…
To paraphrase something I heard a while back, I guess we’ll have to wait until after the bill passes to find out what transparency looks like.
