This resolution would ‘give political speech less protection than the First Amendment now gives to movies, novels, comic books’
When the Senate reconvenes today, the No.1 legislative priority of Democrats is to pass a resolution that would gut the First Amendment, one of the few times in American history an amendment has been proposed to cut back on part of the Bill of Rights.
It’s probably no surprise they want to restrict political speech that could threaten their incumbency, but it is a bit ironic coming just a little more than one week before Constitution Day on Sept. 17.
So, the Senate and the House of Representatives return from a month-long recess and, with everything happening in the world at the moment, the legislative schedule set by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., for Sept. 8, available here on the website of the “Democrats in the U.S. Senate,” includes consideration of a few nominations but lists only one legislative item: a motion to invoke cloture (end debate) on S.J.Res. 19.
This resolution, sponsored by Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and 47 other senators (without a single Republican member), would amend the First Amendment to give Congress the power to limit fundraising and spending on political speech and political activity. The relevant language says that “Congress and the States may regulate and set reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections.”
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