Senator McConnell on the Perils of Campaign Finance ‘Reform’
McConnell praised Justice Clarence Thomas’s partial dissent in Citizens United. It reminds us of the “chilling effect of harassment and intimidation on free speech.” The Supreme Court used similar reasoning in 1958 when it told the state of Alabama that it “couldn’t compel the NAACP to reveal the names and addresses of its members.” Compelling disclosure from groups engaged in advocacy infringes upon the freedom of people to associate with whatever group they like and violates their First Amendment rights. The advent of the Internet has made such threats and intimidation much easier to commit, a point that is underscored by the newest tactic of “swatting” being used against conservative bloggers.
As McConnell said, “Justice Thomas pretty well sums up my own sentiments on tactics like this in the closing paragraph of his opinion in Citizens United: ‘I cannot endorse a view of the First Amendment, that subjects citizens of this nation to death threats, ruined careers, damaged or defaced property, or pre-emptive and threatening warning letters as the prices for engaging in core political speech, the primary object of First Amendment protection.’” Such harassment is bad enough, but according to McConnell, it is “a different order of magnitude from the government itself facilitating or encouraging” such behavior or “using its own powers to harass or intimidate those who participate in the political process.” And that, he observed, is “precisely what we have seen.”
Even worse is the recently proposed “People’s Rights Amendment.” It “basically repeals the First Amendment,” McConnell said, adding that amending the First Amendment “would be the ultimate act of radicalism.” Yet the president’s top political advisor, David Axelrod, told an audience in Manhattan that when the president is reelected, “we will use whatever tools are out there, including a constitutional amendment, to turn” back the Citizens United decision.
McConnell detailed schemes by the FEC, SEC, and FCC to limit political speech rights and criticized the White House for drafting a proposed executive order—first disclosed by PJ Media—that would force anyone bidding for a government contract to reveal their political donations. The “message of the order was clear: If you want a government contract, you’d better support our causes, or at least keep your mouth shut when it comes to the causes we oppose.”
According to McConnell, the common assumption underlying proposed campaign finance regulations is that those who make a profit are cheating their customers or mistreating their employees—or both. Therefore, these groups or people do not deserve First Amendment protection. McConnell made the key point that these constitutionally vested rights do not solely protect speech that is popular. Unpopular speech was what the Framers intended to provide with the greatest protection.
For “all its vaunted tolerance, the political Left has consistently demonstrated a militant intolerance for dissent.” McConnell said. Because they seem to have concluded “that they can’t win on the merits,” they have now “resorted to bullying and intimidation instead. And the potential consequences are grave.”
The wrongful assumption that underlies much of this attempt to regulate political speech is that “the collision of private interests with politics is somehow inherently corrupting.” The attempts “to impose limits on the political speech of any business or group that doesn’t happen to own a newspaper or a news studio” have in common “a deep suspicion of the private sphere.” McConnell said that “few people stop to think of just how radical [that] is.”
As the Court put it in Buckley: “The concept that government may restrict the speech of some elements of our society in order to enhance the relative voice of others is wholly foreign to the First Amendment, which was designed to secure the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources, and to assure unfettered interchange of ideas for the bringing about of political and social changes desired by the people.”
“The “message of the order was clear: If you want a government contract, you’d better support our causes, or at least keep your mouth shut when it comes to the causes we oppose.”
Isn’t that the way it always works in Washington? Crony capitalism is nothing new. If you’re friends with the party in power, you get contracts. If you’re not, you’re out of luck. Wall Street knows this all too well, as do the lobbyists. And it just gives Washington an even worse reputation than it already has. And it will probably never change. Too much money is at stake.
It’s a shame he cannot buy a chin, or a spine… but I am sure the money helps all the same.
Truly a random blowhard.
I’ve generally don’t have much to say about Mitch, but he did very well with this one.
Thank you, Mr. von Spakovsky, for writing about it.
An Préachán
The Founding Father’s wrote the Bill of Rights in order of importance.
1) Freedom of Speech
2) Right to bear arms in case government infringes on #1
McDoody gave a “stirring” speech???????????
Howdy Doody lookalike, tiny mail slot mouth, mumbles like a mumblewit in a thin grandma whine.
Like all RINO pseudo-conservatives in the pansy Congress, McDoody can’t muster a ringing phrase to summon a churchmouse to the country’s defense.
He’s got his lifetime pension and implausible perks. Can’t he just GO?
Such a wonderfully logical argument. I think I’ll frame it and put it up on my bathroom wall.
Make sure the paper’s it on is soft and absorbent, so you can put the sentiment to proper use.
Typical liberal complaints.
Criticism of his appearance and complaints about his supposed lack of rhetorical skills
Not a thing to do with the substance, only the image.
But remember, liberals are the “deep thinkers”.
Yeah. Keep telling yourself that.
Yeah. Change in the same sense that Ion Mihai Pacepa has been describing how socialism is foisted on unsuspecting, gullible, and apathetic populations.
Mitch Henry Clay McConnell can strike a deal even if it means compromising principle. He and his ilk made Kentucky the worst managed state in the union. Offer a solution to a problem and he can tell you several reasons why it will never fly in congress and that no action is the safest course. I am pleased that he favors political free speech at least today, unchallenged.
Mr. McConnell’s defense of poor defenseless labor unions and corporate interests was truly inspirational. Money equal free speech, our overlords in black robes have told us so. Now the rest of us don’t need to bother with silly stuff like involving ourselves in democracy. Just let us know when I can give a labor union or corporation the death penalty. God bless Mitch McConnell!
Listening to a cretin like Von Spakovsky talk about “improving” the campaign finance system is like listening to a lecture on human rights from Attila the Hun.
This is one of the slimebags that the Bush Administration used to sabotage the elections system with voter “caging” operations, turning the civil rights operations in the Justice Department into another branch of the Republican National Committee and then lying to Congress to cover it all up. You want the lowest form of life on the planet, you’ve got it right here with Von Spakovsky.
And, of course, no surprise, you’ll find him on pjmedia, home away from home for the people determined to rule America by whatever means possible. You want the treasonous Fascist scum, you come here and find them in droves.
I think the best reorganization of everything to do with campaigns would be to limit the length of a campaign. Get rid of all the high priced ‘consultants’ Let the candidate mind himself and be himself. I can just picture Barry toting those grecian columns to that arena and affixing his pseudo presidential seal on that podium. I’re really had it with the wild campaigns for more and more money ……from everyone and for everyone. Cut down on the retirement benefits of an administration and the congress and use that money for campaigns. There is even an animal or canine caucus in the House now to handle animal-related issues. The snail darters probably have a lobbiest