Kerby Anderson

The Democratically-controlled House of Representatives just passed a signature piece of legislation. The bill clearly illustrates what the congressional leaders would like to do in America if they could control both houses of Congress and the presidency. The editors of National Review call it a “legislative buffet of bad ideas.” The Institute for Free Speech calls it, “The For the Politicians Act.” The American Civil Liberties Union wrote a letter to the members of Congress urging them to vote no on the bill. When you have such diverse groups expressing their concern about the bill, you know it has many problems. For example, the bill would expand the requirements for financial disclosure. First, this is of concern at a time when citizens are being harassed and intimidated because they supported a marriage amendment on the ballot. Second, even the ACLU has expressed concern that a person could be exposed as a “political donor” if an organization chooses (without the donor’s knowledge) to mention a politician by name. The ACLU believes “it is unfair to hold donors responsible for every communication in which an organization engages.” The bill would revamp the Federal Election Commission and virtually assure that it would come under partisan control. The bill strips from the states the ability to draw their own congressional districts. They are much more likely to understand the cultures and different priorities of the regions in their state. Critics also see so much of the bill designed to limit political speech. We have seen the desire of social media outlets and universities to control any speech that is unpopular or contradictory to political correctness. The bill attempts to micromanage speech into government-approved lanes. It is unlikely that a Republican-controlled Senate will approve this legislation. But the bill does show what Democratic leaders would like to implement if Democrats next year win control of Congress and the White House.