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McCain-Feingold: Not What the Doctor Ordered

Congressman Bob Barr, April 2, 2001

Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. (First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)

Hong Kong people will have full freedom of expression, but all freedoms must be within the limits allowed by law. (Chen Guofang, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, regarding impending revisions in freedom of speech laws for Hong Kong)

In 1808, Thomas Jefferson made this fundamental point: "The liberty of speaking and writing guards our other liberties." How true were his words, yet how quickly we have forgotten. While embraced in almost-reverential terms by the liberal writers and pundits in America’s fourth estate, the campaign finance reform legislation currently before Congress is nothing more than an all-out assault on our most basic American freedoms; a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

McCain-Feingold is not reform; it is the path of least resistance. It is the typical Washington response to any perceived problem: don’t enforce the laws already on the books, that would take work not just talk; instead, pass more regulations, hire more bureaucrats, and create more government.

Unfortunately, in this particular case, the implications go far beyond the size of government. The campaign finance zealots have chosen to limit and regulate two of America’s most precious commodities -- free speech and freedom of association.

McCain’s crusaders do this by targeting and imposing severe restrictions on two key citizen groups, which many times serve as the only effective vehicles through which average citizens can come together to express themselves effectively: issue advocacy groups and political groups. In a country of hundreds of millions of people, it is often difficult for one person to make their voice heard. However, working together with fellow citizens, Americans have the ability to accomplish great things. These people should not only be heard, but under our Constitution, they have the right to be heard.

Yet, with venom in his voice, Senator McCain has labeled organizations such as the National Right to Life Committee and the National Rifle Association, as "Washington special-interests;" organizations responsible for "corrupting" our nation’s political system. Under the McCain-Feingold scheme, these groups would place themselves at legal risk every time they issued a communication to the public that might be perceived as being "for the purpose of influencing a federal election." Heaven forbid that a lawful organization would hand-out flyers educating voters on issues and voting records.

Silenced would be groups on all parts of political spectrum -- right, left, middle, etc. At a time when voter ignorance and apathy is at frightening levels, we ought to be doing more to encourage grassroots organizations to educate voters. Instead, McCain-Feingold will silence them. That’s not what the patient needs. The ailing electorate needs more information, not less.

In recent weeks, much had also been made of the amounts of money each party and its candidates spent this past election year. Senator McCain and his supporters would have people believe that soft money and the amounts each party or politician receives are responsible for the different legislation before Congress each week. Nothing could be further from the truth. Simply stated, soft money is a vital tool for party-building and grassroots activities used to educate people on different candidates and issues. If candidates or organizations use such money improperly, prosecute them, but don’t silence all of them.

Thank goodness McCain was not around to help draft the Bill of Rights. Let's hope the U.S. Supreme Court, which assuredly will decide this matter, has more regard for the Bill of Rights than the authors of this terrible piece of legislation.