[EL] Cruz op-ed on proposed constitutional amendment

[Sean Parnell]

I suppose that would be helpful! My apologies for not including that:

 

A

RTICLE

— 

SECTION 1. To advance the fundamental principle 

of political equality for all, and to protect the integrity 

of the legislative and electoral processes, Congress shall 

have power to regulate the raising and spending of money 

and in-kind equivalents with respect to Federal elections, 

including through setting limits on— 

(1) the amount of contributions to candidates 

for nomination for election to, or for election to, 

Federal office; and 

(2) the amount of funds that may be spent by, 

in support of, or in opposition to such candidates. 

SECTION2. To advance the fundamental principle 

of political equality for all, and to protect the integrity 

of the legislative and electoral processes, each State shall 

have power to regulate the raising and spending of money 

and in-kind equivalents with respect to State elections, 

including through setting limits on— 

(1) the amount of contributions to candidates 

for nomination for election to, or for election to, 

State office; and 

(2) the amount of funds that may be spent by, 

in support of, or in opposition to such candidates. 

‘SECTION 3. Nothing in this article shall be construed

to grant Congress the power to abridge the freedom 

of the press. 

SECTION 4. Congress and the States shall have 

power to implement and enforce this article by appropriate 

legislation.’’. 

 

 

Sean Parnell

President

Impact Policy Management, LLC

6411 Caleb Court

Alexandria, VA  22315

571-289-1374 (c)

sean at impactpolicymanagement.com

 

From: Marty Lederman [mailto:lederman.marty at gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2014 10:58 AM
To: Sean Parnell
Cc: Election Law
Subject: Re: [EL] Cruz op-ed on proposed constitutional amendment

 

What is the language of the hypothetical constitutional amendment that we are supposed to be analyzing?

 

On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 3:02 PM, Sean Parnell <sean at impactpolicymanagement.com> wrote:

I believe Rick linked to the op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by Senator Cruz <http://online.wsj.com/articles/ted-cruz-the-democratic-assault-on-the-first-amendment-1401662112>  regarding the proposed constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to regulate money spent in politics. There were a handful of examples of what the Senator asserted the proposed amendment would do, I thought it would be interesting to post them and see if anyone here, on any side of the issue, wanted to either support or rebut the assertions. I’d note that the claims made by the Senator largely mirror what I’ve said myself in the past, so you can probably guess my thoughts on these assertions.

 

If this amendment were adopted, the following would likely be deemed constitutional:

Congress could prohibit the National Rifle Association from distributing voter guides letting citizens know politicians' records on the Second Amendment.

Congress could prohibit the Sierra Club from running political ads criticizing politicians for their environmental policies.

Congress could penalize pro-life (or pro-choice) groups for spending money to urge their views of abortion.

Congress could prohibit labor unions from organizing workers (an in-kind expenditure) to go door to door urging voters to turn out.

Congress could criminalize pastors making efforts to get their parishioners to vote.

Congress could punish bloggers expending any resources to criticize the president.

Congress could ban books, movies (watch out Michael Moore <http://topics.wsj.com/person/M/Michael-Moore/5437>  ) and radio programs—anything not deemed "the press"—that might influence upcoming elections.

Anybody care to explain how/why Senator Cruz is wrong, or failing that I suppose, to argue that he’s right but that it’s a good thing these things could be done under the proposed amendment?

 

Sean Parnell

President

Impact Policy Management, LLC

6411 Caleb Court

Alexandria, VA  22315

571-289-1374 (c)

sean at impactpolicymanagement.com

 


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