(01-04-2019 05:38 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  Have you guys read that proposed amendment? It's horrifying! The operative sections say as follows:

Quote:Section I. To advance democratic self-government and political equality, and to protect the integrity of government and the electoral process, Congress and the States may regulate and set reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections.

If you thought the Alien & Sedition Acts went too far in criminalizing political speech, this one's a doozy. "The raising and spending of money to influence elections" covers just about all election-related activity. "Regulate" authorizes any type of regulation, as does "set reasonable limits". In short, Congress and the States would be given the power to subsidize ("regulate") any election activity that the party in power likes, and to suppress ("set reasonable limits on") any election-related activity they don't like.

Quote:Section III. Nothing in this article shall be construed to grant Congress or the States the power to abridge the freedom of the press.

Since freedom of the press includes the ability to pay for and publish communications to influence elections, this exception either swallows all of section I, or is meaningless.

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Such a sweeping grant of power to government -- in the very field which is at the absolute core of liberty -- is unconscionable. Such a blatant internal contradiction in drafting is amateurish in the extreme.

Mark my words: this amendment is so bad that no principled legislator will vote for it -- one. Any legislator who does vote for it will be doing so either because (1) he/she knows it will not pass, or (2) he/she is an idiot.

I know nothing about Ted Deutch, but if this amendment is his signature cause, he is a clown.

Fully admit to have not read the amendment and its details.

I've got to agree that it seems rather poorly written, as you point out that Section III kind of negates Section I. Or is it vice versa?

I think any amendment focusing on campaign finance will need to be written with a needle and be incredibly precise.