Meehan amendment defeated

It is amazing the elitism that pervades our nation's capital. From the common man not understanding $400 haircuts, to our, OUR, representatives not thinking we should freely have a say in the legislative process.

Pro-Life Groups Celebrate Defeat of Amendment Hurting Free Speech

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Pro-life groups are celebrating the defeat of an amendment to a lobbying reform bill that would limit their free speech rights and those of their members. They said the amendment targeted would have hurt their efforts to tell private citizens about what is occurring in Congress.

Rep. Marty Meehan, a Massachusetts Democrat, says his amendment targets grassroots lobbying and its supporters asserted that the measure would require merely “disclosure” of “huge undisclosed amounts” spent to get members of the public to “lobby Congress.”

Yet, a coalition of pro-life groups, said the reality is that the Meehan Amendment would force countless individual Americans and groups to register and report as “lobbying firms."
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“The defeat of the Meehan Amendment, and its predecessor in the Senate, is an important victory for grassroots-based movements like the pro-life movement," he said. "This victory is due to an outpouring of opposition to the idea of officeholders regulating the right of private groups to communicate with the public about what is going on in Congress.”

Johnson said that he was pleased with the victory but worried about another bill that would cause headaches for pro-life groups.

He cited H.R. 984, sponsored by pro-abortion Rep. Henry Waxman of California, that would require Executive Branch officials to disclose every letter, email or contact they receive from any "private party" such as pro-life groups or pro-life people.

“Under the Waxman ‘Big Brother Act,’ it would no longer be possible for any private citizen to express an opinion about a federal government policy, without that communication becoming an entry in a public database,” Johnson explained.

Bottom line is these groups are a pain in the rear to wayward congressmen. The phone, fax, and email surges when the public becomes aware of actions they would rather hide in the darkness of bureaucracy. Like a cockroach, support for these bills scatter when the light is shone upon them.

"if America is to have government by the people, then the right of the people to be informed must be protected."