Democracy 21 writes in a press release:
We also greatly appreciate the strong leadership exercised by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) with her House Democratic colleagues in support of Internet users and the campaign finance laws.
Yup. Pelosi is fighting hard to defeat HR 1606. As are a bunch of other congressmen.
Like Maine's Tom Allen (D):
Two of the Web's most famous blogs, the liberal Daily Kos and the conservative RedState, have trumpeted the Hensarling bill since it failed on the suspensions calendar during a November vote, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage but snagging more than half of the House. The bloggers of Daily Kos, RedState and other online forums argue that the Allen-Bass alternative, which would provide targeted exceptions from the law for individuals and some websites, would force them to register as political committees.
Allen did not dispute that possibility. He noted that his bill would allow websites unrestricted operations as long as their annual expenditures did not exceed $10,000.
"They might well have to file," Allen said of blogs as large as Daily Kos, "but that's the point. If the Internet becomes more important, the types of financial abuses that occurred within the campaign-finance system in general" are more prone to occurring.
For all the talk about "protecting bloggers", we now have proof that their agenda is none of that sort.
This is intended to squash citizen media. Pelosi and company are complicit, no matter how much they lie about their intentions.
And then Allen wraps up with his laugher:
“We want [the Web] to become as free as it possibly can without undermining the entire campaign-finance-reform legislation,” he added.
When they can point to an example of this undermining of the entire campaign-finance-reform legislation -- an undermining so drastic that the blogosphere's freedom must be compromised, then we'll talk.
Right now, they've got nothing.
Nancy Pelosi
(415) 556-4862 (SF)
(202) 225-4965 (DC)
Tom Allen
(207)-774-5019 (Maine)
(202)-225-6116 (DC)