3 ms·
How do you reconcile freedom of speech with restrictions on campaign contributions. The courts have been pretty consistent in finding the various campaign finan
by greedo 12y ago
How do you reconcile freedom of speech with restrictions on campaign contributions. The courts have been pretty consistent in finding the various campaign finance laws to be overly broad and restrictive when it comes to the 1st Amendment.
- Dylan16807 12y agoReconcile? Money isn't speech. Sure, people can spend money on tools for speech, but that's not what causes problems. It's when people give money to a political group that things get nasty and voting power starts to shift to those with cash.
- seanflyon 12y ago> Sure, people can spend money on tools for speech, but that's not what causes problems. That is what PACs do. The problem is that people are spending too much money on advertising for candidates. Any solution in which people can spend unlimited money on tools for speech has not drawn a line between money and speech.
- greedo 12y agoMoney is speech. Freedom of speech doesn't mean standing on a soapbox in a public square denouncing King George. It covers most forms of communication; oral, print, radio, tv, internet, billboards, you name it. Just because the 1st Amendment doesn't explicitly protect PACs doesn't mean that they're not an extension of what the Founding Fathers meant to protect.