House Defeats Bill on Political Blogs

[jayfish]

link

The House voted 225-182 for a bill that would have excluded blogs, e-mails and other Internet communications from regulation by the
Federal Election Commission. That was 47 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed under a procedure that limited debate time and allowed no amendments.

The vote in effect clears the way for the FEC to move ahead with court-mandated rule-making to govern political speech and campaign spending on the Internet.

Opposition was led by Rep. Marty Meehan (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., who with Rep. Christopher Shays (news, bio, voting record), R-Conn., championed the 2002 campaign finance law that banned unlimited "soft money" contributions that corporations, unions and individuals were making to political parties.

This story might fall outside the LBN guidelines but I think it's important enough for an exception. I haven't heard even a whisper about this bills passage. Anyone care to guess why? ...becasue we are killing(as Chris Matthews like to call it)"the legitimate media". I'm sure CNN, MSNBC, Faux and ll the rest are loving this.

Jay

[havocmom]

1. Payoff to MSM for their duplifity AND serious infringement on free speech

I blog therefore the FEC can push me around? Hmmmmm, the Iron Curtian is coming.

[Metta]

2. This is a dark day for us all.

I hope the voices of reason can deep six this.

[rodeodance]

4. "govern political speech"---what does this mean for DU?

[napi21]

3. Political donations via the internet are already regulated.

I guess we have to read the bill to see just what changes this can make. I know all the donations I made to the Dean campaign we associated with my name, address, etc, and there was always a acution that these donations had to remain within the Fed. guide lines.

[shockingelk]

6. This is about blogs

Whether anyone can freely post political speech on the Internets.

[napi21]

9. And just what would they consider a blog? Is DU a blog?

Is the Freeper site a blog? I seeing big problems with this bill. I don't think the FEC is going to be able to set any regulations without getting into the results of the SC cases that more or less OK any political speech.

[shockingelk]

21. Or, What is a blog?

Is it more like a radio or television show, or a public letter?

[MADem]

10. We'll maybe have to start gaming the system

and put some kind of disclaimer before every post! Not that "I" am exhorting you to contribute to this candidate, who is (list qualities here) and who has (describe accomplishments here), but purely as a matter of information, I went to (put website here) and contributed, because I, personally, believe that this person is the best candidate.

They can regulate the dough, but regulating the speech is a tough nut to crack. Of course, with the nuts in the administration, anything is possible.

Funny, I always thought the GOP averred that MONEY was SPEECH. Which means those of us without deep pockets have duct tape over our mouths....

[MrModerate]

5. I wish the FEC . . .

Good fucking luck managing the blogosphere. Most are unfunded, and those that are are so murkily funded (and fungibly funded) that they'll never keep up.

And those with bucks will get lawyers to dump weevils in the ears of the regulators.

The impluse behind this ruling is antidemocratic, but I don't see it working on a practical level.

[jayfish]

7. Ya Know, For All The Bitching...

the Thugs like to do about lawyers, they sure do like creating more of them.

Jay

[MADem]

11. And when they are in hot water, they hire DEMOCRATS!

DeLay, Scooter...go for the Democratic shark when your ass is on the line!

[Rainscents]

8. When are these baster going to STOP?!?!

[displacedtexan]

12. Never.

I address that very issue in this week's Blog Box (on the DU homepage tomorrow morning).

They will never stop, and we can never rest! We'll have to fight them forever.

[madrchsod]

13. so we will watch the right while

they watch us....ok that makes a lot of sense. they succeeded in criminalizing free file sharing,then the wonderful digital rights act, now they have succeeded in criminalizing political speech and action..not enough people paid any attention..it`s a little to late isn`t it.

[jayfish]

14. It Probably Is Too Little Too Late.

The crux is on the who's watching who part. Who decides what constitutes political speech or, more importantly, what constitutes political speech that is worthy of regulation. Partisan congressional committees? A commission? Who provides the oversight?

Jay

[rayofreason]

15. The Democrats did this!!!!!

Here is the count -

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll559.xml

What gives???!!!

[apnu]

16. Because it had a nasty loop hole

from: http://news.com.com/Democrats+defeat+election-law+aid+for+bloggers/2100-1028_3-5929587.html

The Federal Election Commission is under court order to finalize rules extending a controversial 2002 campaign finance law to the Internet. Unless Congress acts, the final regulations are expected to be announced by the end of the year. (They could cover everything from regulating hyperlinks to politicians' Web sites to forcing disclosure of affiliations with campaigns.)

Opponents of the reform plan mounted a last-minute effort to derail the bill before the vote on Wednesday evening. Liberal advocacy groups circulated letters warning the measure was too broad and would invite "corrupt" activities online, and The New York Times wrote in an editorial this week that "the Internet would become a free-fire zone without any limits on spending."

(edited due to malformed BB tag)

[rayofreason]

17. loophole

Which "Liberal advocacy groups"? What kind of "corruption"?

I don't want my online speech to be controlled or censored in any way. On Daily Kos you can read arguments for the reform - see "Online Freedom of Speech: The Morning After".

This was a bad move by the Democrats.

And the MSM is smiling because it helps narrow the access to dissimention of opinion and increases the power of monopoly.

[AX10]

19. This Campaign Finance "Reform" is all a censorship sham.

Damn McCain Feingold bill! :grr: The Democrats fell behind because of it and now this POS is passed. This is horrible. Blogs are free speech. Emails are free speech too.

[Centered]

22. Is Tipper trying to Censor stuff again???

sorry I couldn't resist... :)

[nashville_brook]

18. i just don't understand how POLITICAL SPEECH can be regulated

and i really want to punch something right now.

[jsamuel]

20. Like FoxNews.com?

[jazzjunkysue]

23. So, they're gonna control all of the internet servers? How?

You'll have to apply to someone somewhere to up load from a server? How will they stop us from connecting to someone's server if we know the address?