A "Must Sign!"

And so it begins... As Democrats begin to gear up for their reign as the majority party in the 110th Congress, some badly needed reforms are being discussed by the new leaders on the Hill. Some of those reforms are simply common sense, ethical changes to the rules -- specifically increasing the visibility of congressional pork barrel spending ("earmarks") and a ban on the acceptance by senators of gifts, trips, meals, and other offerings from lobbyists.

I just read a great op-ed ("Pelosi Ethics Reforms Treat Symptoms, Not Disease") by Peter Flaherty for the National Legal and Policy Center on the need to reform the Appropriations Committee system and congressional earmarks. He provides a very clear-cut, well-written description of the problem at hand and how best to deal with it.

So, we must ask ourselves one question: How does grassroots lobbying from citizens end up on the slate of needed reforms when the real problem is the pork barrel spending and the huge money that's thrown from the corporate level to the "favor factory?" This is a very worrisome question as that restrictions on that level of lobbying are nothing short of an attack on the grassroots political freedoms that we, as citizens, are guaranteed by our Constitution. Any reform to citizens' rights to lobby at the grassroots could potentially change "free speech" and the "right of the people to petition the government for a redress of greivances" forever. This is scary!

Grassroots Freedom has posted an online petition to be sent to Congress next Tuesday (1/9/07):

“We the People.” What a grand and magnificent concept! With these words we began the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States.

From the First Amendment (in the “Bill of Rights”) to the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law…abridging…the right of the people…to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

“NO LAW”! We the people have the right to freely communicate with each other and to petition the government WITHOUT INTERFERENCE.

Current attempts to regulate grassroots activists, under the guise of “lobbying reform,” would overturn this core concept behind the American Republic. These attempts must be stopped.

We strongly oppose the required registration and reporting of efforts to communicate to the general public urging citizens to contact Congress. Americans have fought and died for the rights enumerated in our Constitution, and to legislate away the free exercise of those rights would bring America closer to tyranny.

Therefore, we strongly oppose any legislation that would in any way regulate, burden and even silence the grassroots or our sources of information.

Sign this petition online. I signed it this evening and highly encourage every American who wishes to retain a voice in our nation's political landscape do the same.

It's not just me... Others are voicing opinions on this particular aspect of "lobbying reform" too. From an email I received today, courtesy of the Grassroots Freedom folks, additional opinions are being made known now:

Former Federal Election Commissioner Brad Smith has this to say today in The Hill: lawmakers are seeking the identity of firms paying for constituent calls for purposes of retaliation. “Can you think of any other reason that members of Congress need to know who’s running grassroots ads in their district?” See the full article at: The
Hill News.

The First Amendment Coalition Trust says that this bill is designed to allow government to track the political activity of its citizens. Their blog warns, “For those who thought the Patriot Act was an attack on your rights then this attack from the far left should scare the hell out of you.” Go to: First Amendment Coalition Trust.

Folks, make no mistake. This is NOT a partisan issue. It will take the cooperation of both parties in Congress to make the NEEDED reforms to the current system of earmarking and to defeat this highly-suspect grassroots lobbying "reform."