In a letter sent today to Sen. John McCain, a coalition of nearly 20 grassroots, legal and public policy organizations emphatically expressed their opposition to any attempts by the Arizona Senator and Presidential hopeful to further muzzle political speech.
The letter was sent in response to recent and numerous public statements by McCain’s Senate office and Presidential campaign staff announcing his intention to further limit political speech by introducing legislation in the 110th Congress to ban so-called “527” organizations. And it points to the irony of McCain’s plans, noting that the very 527 organizations the Senator now seeks to silence are a direct consequence of the McCain-Feingold legislation passed by Congress in 2002.
The letter reads, in part…
“We hold the 2002 McCain-Feingold legislation to be one of the greatest legislative assaults on the First Amendment ever passed by Congress. Just as we opposed that legislation, so too do we oppose any further restrictions on political speech.”
The groups represented on the letter also pointed to McCain’s seeming unwillingness to limit his own speech by campaigning within the Presidential public financing system as he seeks the 2008 GOP nomination.
“We find it troubling that you would introduce and advocate new speech-stifling legislation at a time when it appears that your presidential campaign is willing to forego similar limitations in favor of your political aspirations. … To be clear, as a matter of principle we consider it fundamentally improper for taxpayer dollars – even if voluntary – to be used to subsidize political campaigns. As you seek, however, to further suppress the voices of the American people at times when it’s most important for them to speak – during elections – we remain curious as to why you haven’t committed to applying similar speech limitations to your own campaign.”
The letter to Senator McCain was signed by representatives of 18 organizations on behalf of millions of grassroots Americans across the United States. Groups represented on the letter include: Center for Individual Freedom, American Conservative Union, James Madison Center for Free Speech, Citizens United, The National Center for Public Policy Research, Institute for Liberty, Citizen Outreach Project, Coalition for a Fair Judiciary, RightMarch.com, JunkScience.com, Americans for Prosperity – Texas, GrassTopsUSA, Taxpayers League of Minnesota, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Frontiers for Freedom, Liberty Coalition, GrassrootsFreedom.com and Conservative HQ.
February 15, 2007 at 7:02 pm
McLame isn’t a Republican, he’s not a rino. He’s a self-absorbed power monger who is using both parties to gain the Presidency. Like most of the nut cases of the past who craved power, he will do ANYTHING to consolidate people into a group that supports him. In the process, he has no qualms about destroying the very people whom he ostensbily wants to represent; they are nothing more than a necessary evil to be tolerated until such time as power is gained. As has been the case with tyrants of the past, freedom of speech, in this case 527 groups, cannot be tolerated and he and his communist friends on the hill are doing everything they can to squash any opposition to their plans for a socialist state.