Where did my country go?

Gonz

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
Bill to restrict grass-roots activism?
Pro-life advocate sees proposal as attempt to limit contact with lawmakers
Posted: April 12, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

A bill that some activist organizations say would inhibit the right of ordinary Americans to petition their representatives in Congress is making its way through the legislative process in Washington, D.C.

The Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006, S.2349, passed the Senate 90-8, and a House version of the bill could come up for a vote in two weeks, Douglas Johnson, legislative director of National Right to Life, told LifeSiteNews.

The bill "would regulate for the first time grass-roots activism," Johnson told the newssite. The legislation defines "grass-roots lobbying" as "the voluntary efforts of members of the general public to communicate their own views on an issue to federal officials or to encourage other members of the general public to do the same."

Said Johnson: "The bill does not start off by regulating all constituent contacts with members of Congress. But it does adopt that premise that that is a type of lobbying."

The activist believes the bill could limit organizations like his from urging supporters to contact members of Congress.

The stated goal behind the legislation is to more strictly regulate professional lobbyists on Capitol Hill, Johnson explains.

"This is really an agenda that certain groups like Common Cause use to restrict grass-roots democracy so certain privileged elites will have more influence on public policy," Johnson told LifeSiteNews, saying he believes Democrats are trying to insert language that restricts grass-roots activism.
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:grim:
 
Ok gonz, break this down so I know whether to argue with you or flavio.

;)

It is a law saying what?

that people can no longer write their congressman/woman?

or is it to stop lobbist groups from influeancing the congressman/woman while acting like they are private citizens and not part of said group?

on first glance it looks like a sucky law, but the writing of the article seems biased against it, what exactly is the law trying to do?
 
Lobbyists are citizens acting as the spokesperson for a group. The NRA can send 1 or one million. Which is easier?
 
Gonz said:
Lobbyists are citizens acting as the spokesperson for a group. The NRA can send 1 or one million. Which is easier?
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Ok...I STILL don't understand what this is all about. SO that is why I am asking.

1. what is the law about.

2. what is it meant to fight.

3. where did it go wrong.
 
By defining grass roots oranizations as lobbyists, they can then use this bill, as well as others, such as the McCain-Feingold bill, to stop or hinder direct contact between constiuents & their representatives.
 
Gonz said:
By defining grass roots oranizations as lobbyists, they can then use this bill, as well as others, such as the McCain-Feingold bill, to stop or hinder direct contact between constiuents & their representatives.
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(define grass-roots...seriously I have an idea of what it means..I think)

hinder direct contact.....uhmm isn't that REALLY un-american?

So WHY is this bill written? what was it supposed to fight?
 
Lets say 5 people decide they think homosexuals don't need a club on campus. They tell their friends about it & the group grows to 10, 25, 100, 1000 people. That's grassroots. It's more simple than organized lobying groups & usually starts with average folks.
 
Gonz said:
Lets say 5 people decide they think homosexuals don't need a club on campus. They tell their friends about it & the group grows to 10, 25, 100, 1000 people. That's grassroots. It's more simple than organized lobying groups & usually starts with average folks.
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Ok, fair enough.

so why was the bill written? What particular incident, or incidents is it addressing.

like some guy gets killed by a drunk driver, they make drunk driving illegal.

Did someone abuse the grass roots lobbying movement.
 
paul_valaru said:
Did someone abuse the grass roots lobbying movement.
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Happens every day.

But making it illegal for a citizen to contact his/her government representative over matters of concern is, well...despotism.

An elected representative is exactly, precisely, and literally what the term implies. Or should be, was designed to be at least. One who represents the wishes and interests of the people from a designated area. Not his/her own interests. Not the interests of his/her political party. The will of the people. When a representative stops doing that, he/she is no longer representative of the people who put him/her there. Hence, they are not a representaitve, they become a puppet.

That Confederate Consitution looks better and better every day, don't it fellers?
 
highwayman said:
Fuck that!!! Kiss my ass Kennedy/Kerry....
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Hate to break it to you, but they aren't the ones in power at the moment, are they? As I've said again and again though, the only real difference is marketing.
 
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