Free Speech Safe For Now

Congressional Quarterly reports that the attack on 527 groups has ground to a halt. As you recall, 527s are organizations created by the tax code. They are used to raise and spend money on elections campaigns. 527s have to disclose their contributions, but they are not bound by other aspects of federal campaign finance law, most notably, contribution limits. 527s helped John Kerry a lot in 2004. House Republicans, though having opposed restrictions on campaign finance for years, have been trying to eliminate 527s since the 2004 campaign. Earlier this year, it looked like they might do so.

Now things look better for those of us concerned with free speech. The House remains eager to get rid of 527s (as part of a “lobbying reform” bill), but the Senate will not go along. Why not? Senate Democrats know what’s up, and with the exception of Russ Feingold, might vote against a lobbying bill that eliminates 527s. So that’s 44 votes against the bill. Seven Senate Republicans also told their leader, Sen. Frist:

As Republicans, we strongly believe in freedom, including freedom of expression and association. We campaigned for office on the principles of a limited and constitutional government. As elected officials we took an oath of office to “support this Constitution.” The First Amendment’s dictates are a model of clarity: “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.” Yet the House of Representatives approved a bill (H.R. 513) that proposes new restrictions on speech about politicians and policies to be enforced under the threat of criminal penalties.

The seven Republicans then threatened to support a Democratic filibuster against the lobbying bill. Who knows? Those 7 plus the Democrats might even make up a majority in the Senate?

So partisanship and principle have worked together well to protect freedom of speech. For now.

(The seven Republican senators are: George Allen, Sam Brownback, Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, Michael Enzi, John Sununu and David Vitter). [pdf]