On the topic of political corruption, here’s just one way the Government of the U.S. (most notably the re-election engineers for the Bush Campaign – the same ones who brought/bought you florida in the last election) are stripping the U.S. of their free speech without direct censorship:
Are you involved in a local or national non-profit or public interest organization? As a leader or board director or member? Please read this message carefully, because your organization could be facing a serious threat.
The Republican National Committee is pressing the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) to issue new rules that would cripple groups that dare to communicate with the public in any way critical of President Bush or members of Congress. Incredibly, the FEC has just issued — for public comment — proposed rules that would do just that. Any kind of non-profit — conservative, progressive, labor, religious, secular, social service, charitable, educational, civic participation, issue-oriented, large, and small — could be affected by these rules.
By the way, one thing FEC’s proposed rules do not affect is the donations you may have made in the past or may make now to MoveOn.org or to the MoveOn.org Voter Fund. They are aimed at activist non-profit groups, not donors.
Operatives in Washington are displaying a terrifying disregard for the values of free speech and openness which underlie our democracy. Essentially, they are willing to pay any price to stop criticism of Bush administration policy.
We’ve attached materials below to help you make a public comment to the FEC before the comment period ends on APRIL 9th. Your comment could be very important, because normally the FEC doesn’t get much public feedback.
Public comments to the FEC are encouraged by email at
Comments should be addressed to Ms. Mai T. Dinh, Acting Assistant General Counsel, and must include the full name, electronic mail address, and postal service address of the commenter.
More details can be found at:
http://www.fec.gov/press/press2004/20040312rulemaking.html
We’d love to see a copy of your public comment. Please email us a copy at [email protected].
Whether or not you’re with a non-profit, we also suggest you ask your representatives to write a letter to the FEC opposing the rule change.
Some key points:
– Campaign finance reform was not meant to gag public interest organizations.
– Political operatives are trying to silence opposition to Bush policy.
– The Federal Election Commission has no legal right to treat non-profit interest groups as political committees. Congress and the courts have specifically considered and rejected such regulation.
You can reach your representatives at:
Senator Don Nickles
Phone: 202-224-5754
Senator James M. Inhofe
Phone: 202-224-4721
Congressman Frank D. Lucas
Phone: 202-225-5565
Please let us know you’re calling, at:
http://www.moveon.org/callmade.html?id=2541-3524631-wzZ_mkDQi37w7DU6RYd5Nw
In a non-election year, this kind of administrative overreach would never find support. It goes far beyond any existing law or precedent. It is a serious threat to the fundamental checks and balances in our system. But because of an unholy alliance between a few campaign reform groups and GOP partisans, this rule change could actually happen if we don’t act now.
I’ve attached more details below, prepared by our attorneys and by the FEC Working Group — a group of more than 500 respected non-profit organizations.
If you run a non-profit, don’t assume this change doesn’t apply to you. First check out the EXAMPLES OF SPECIFIC CONSEQUENCES FOR NONPROFIT GROUPS section below. It’s outrageous.
Thanks for all you do,
Sincerely,
–Wes Boyd
MoveOn.org
March 30th, 2004