Democrats for Censorship (or Freedom of Speech vs. the Fairness Doctrine)

Yesterday, was indeed a great day to be an American, and our Republic has averted disaster for yet another day… Not only did the Senate vote down the Illegal Alien Amnesty Bill, but the Supreme Court struck a blow against racism in our schools, AND the House of Representatives voted to protect our First Amendment right to the Freedom of Speech which was under attack by Democrats.

An effort by over 100 Democrats in the House of Representatives to quell freedom of political speech by using taxpayer dollars to re-enact the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” failed miserably, the final vote barring the FCC from repromulgating it was passed 309-115 (See the Roll Call here). Please note that ALL of the votes in favor of restricting Freedom of Speech were DEMOCRATS!!!

Instead of fighting for freedom of speech, 115 House Democrats voted to allow revival of the Fairness Doctrine in an effort to reintroduce government regulation of political speech. This would be a disaster, not only for Conservatives, who were specifically targetted by this bill, but for Democrats as well, or ANYONE in this country who has a political opinion that may differ from the elite bureaucrats of this country.

As reported in an article published by The Hill and written by Alexander Bolton, Rep. Dick Durbin (D-IL) had the following to say; “It’s time to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine… I have this old-fashioned attitude that when Americans hear both sides of the story, they’re in a better position to make a decision.“ There are some fatal flaws in Dick Durbin’s ideas in this regard.

First, in any issue we face as a nation there are often more than two viewpoints, and no issue can be completely cut down two-party lines. To pretend that simply offering two viewpoints (Rep vs. Dem) on any matter helps our country is to cut off debate that may offer solutions to problems that our two-party system hasn’t considered.

Secondly, the MORE discussion we have on an issue, the more ability we the people have to make decisions. We are not children that have to be catered to in this way. There are so many outlets for information in this day and age that virtually no citizen is without the facts, if they care to study any issue that comes up.

Another democrat whose comments were featured in this particular article were those of Representative Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). She stated that she was going to look into the constitutional and legal concerns in regards to re-establishing the same FCC rule, that in 1985 was found to be restricting journalistic freedoms. [Sen. Feinstein, go re-read the First Amendment, that's really all the research you need to do on this].

As Bolton points out in his article, according to a Congressional Research Service report, the Fairness Doctrine when it was still active “actually inhibit[ed] the presentation of controversial issues of public importance to the detriment of the public and in degradation of the editorial perogative of broadcast journalists.“

It simply boggles the mind to try and understand why Democrats would want to restrict our Constitutionally protected freedoms in this way, unless they are lying when they say they believe in Free Speech.

We live in the United States of America, not some socialist or communist dictatorship that sees fit to stifle the people’s voices in order to establish and maintain oppression. It’s time our Democratic Leadership in the House realizes that American citizens will not stand for any sort of censorship, or infringements on the First Amendment.

Thank you to Rep. Pence, and the other sponsors for bringing this amendment to the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill forward, thereby protecting the First Amendment.

I am truly disappointed in those 115 Representatives that do not support Freedom of Speech. Any representative that fails to see that the First Amendment is an essential part of why our country works should be recalled immediately. Here are their names… [You can find contact information for each at Congress.org, or by using Google. Please let each and every one of them know that we will never give up our rights, and those who attempt to take them away will be kicked out of office…

DEMOCRATS IN FAVOR OF GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP

(In Alphabetical Order — The complete list of Ayes and Nays can be found here.)

• Ackerman
• Allen
• Arcuri
• Baird
• Baldwin
• Becerra
• Berkley
• Berry
• Bishop (GA)
• Blumenauer
• Boswell
• Boyda (KS)
• Brady (PA)
• Braley (IA)
• Butterfield
• Capps
• Capuano
• Carney
• Clarke
• Clay
• Cleaver
• Clyburn
• Conyers
• Davis (CA)
• Davis (IL)
• DeFazio
• DeLauro
• Dingell
• Doggett
• Doyle
• Ellison
• Eshoo
• Farr
• Fattah
• Filner
• Frank (MA)
• Gonzalez
• Green, Al
• Grijalva
• Gutierrez
• Hall (NY)
• Harman
• Higgins
• Hinchey
• Hirono
• Hodes
• Holt
• Honda
• Hoyer
• Jackson (IL)
• Jefferson
• Johnson (GA)
• Johnson, E. B.
• Jones (OH)
• Kanjorski
• Kaptur
• Kennedy
• Kilpatrick
• Klein (FL)
• Kucinich
• Langevin
• Larsen (WA)
• Larson (CT)
• Lee
• Levin
• Lewis (GA)
• Loebsack
• Lofgren, Zoe
• Lowey
• Maloney (NY)
• Markey
• Matsui
• McCollum (MN)
• McDermott
• McGovern
• McNerney
• Meehan
• Miller, George
• Moore (WI)
• Moran (VA)
• Murtha
• Nadler
• Neal (MA)
• Olver
• Pallone
• Pascrell
• Pastor
• Payne
• Price (NC)
• Rangel
• Sánchez, Linda T.
• Sanchez, Loretta
• Schakowsky
• Schiff
• Scott (VA)
• Sestak
• Slaughter
• Solis
• Stark
• Sutton
• Tauscher
• Thompson (CA)
• Thompson (MS)
• Towns
• Van Hollen
• Velázquez
• Wasserman Schultz
• Waters
• Watson
• Watt
• Welch (VT)
• Wexler
• Woolsey
• Wu
• Wynn