Nancy Pelosi wants to erase Freedom of Speech

Nancy Pelosi: The aged, decrepit face

of socialism, power lust, and corruption

President Donald Trump isn’t Nancy Pelosi’s only target. It is the Freedom of Speech.

David Harsanyi of The Federalist wrote on January 3^rd. in his column, “First On Nancy Pelosi’s Agenda: Attacking Free Expression”:

One of Nancy Pelosi’s first projects as new speaker of the House [for the 116^th Congress] will be passing a government overhaul of campaign-finance and ethics rules that will, among other things, “expand voting rights.” One of the new bills — specifics are still cloudy — reportedly allocates a pool of taxpayer money to match small-dollar donations 6-to-1, as a way of encouraging “grass-roots campaigning,” according to The Wall Street Journal…

Some big cities have already begun handing out tax-funded “democracy vouchers.” In other words, politicians have passed legislation that subsidizes the speech of people who will, for the most part, support them. It’s quite the racket. Pelosi wants to take this corruption national….

There is something about abridging freedom of speech.  And money is speech. This fact has been codified by the Supreme Court. Writing is speech. Speaking is speech. Speaking anonymously is speech. Joining a group of other Americans to petition the government is also speech.

The Campaign Finance Law, the Federal Election Committee, and the IRS collude to control how citizens support candidates through contributions and for whom.

Yet Democrats will also include a provision in their package that would make tax-exempt 501(c)(4) charitable groups disclose donors who’ve given $10,000 or more during an election cycle. As I’ve written elsewhere, this obsession with eliminating anonymity is also a transparent attempt to chill speech and undermine minority opinions.

As Harsany stresses, Pelosi’s new bill is intended to intimidate anyone from donating more than $10,000 (by insinuating that the donor would be audited, or smacked with a fine), or to give less than $10,000 to a candidate’s PAC. The better to reduce a candidate’s war chest. They hope the actions against and the sentencing of Diniah D’Souza will serve as an example and a warning.   

Conservative author Dinesh D’Souza, one of the most brilliant conservative political writers of the modern era, was sentenced by a judge last week to eight months in a halfway house and probation. He was also ordered to pay a $30,000 fine within 45 days. His alleged crime? He made two contributions to a losing political campaign under the names of friends. D’Souza accepted a plea agreement admitting he used straw donors to donate $20,000 to the U.S. Senate campaign of Wendy Long, a friend of his. Federal campaign law limits contributors to U.S. Senate campaigns to $5,000 each.

To obviate a donor’s anonymity is to expose the person to what is called “doxing” or the broadcasting of his residence and family to harassment by groups opposed to his chosen charity. Although related to Campaign  Finance Law strictures, the harassment of prominent figures by doxing.

Now, you might recall that one of the central criticisms Democrats leveled at the Citizens United free speech decision was that corporate funding would force employees and shareholders to support issues and candidates against their will. This was facile claim since, in the private sector, workers and shareholders are free to associate with companies that comport to their politics.

At the same time, however, Democrats are perfectly comfortable impelling taxpayers to contribute to campaigns. Liberals simultaneously bitterly complain about the Supreme Court’s Janus decision, which finally stopped public-sector unions from coercing workers to pay “agency fees” to fund their political activities.

Pelosi isn’t the only one in the House to oppose freedom of speech. IIlhan Omar, newly installed representative for Minnesota, endorses the Boycot, Divest, and Sanction movement to target companies trading with Israel, and ultimately see it replaced by “Palestine.” The Washington Times reported on November 19^th: She has given America the finger in favor of "Palestine."

…BDS doesn’t just criticize Israel’s government, it denies its right to exist as a Jewish State. Omar also said she supports a two-state solution. “Rep-Elect Omar, you owe it to your new constituents to clarify your views.”

The “two-state” solution is a fantasy. It is as much a delusion as a milkshake of oil,  water, and a dollop of egg nog.