John McCain is at it again! 

He’s once again targeting the First Amendment and YOUR right to petition your government.

It was just a few years ago that Congress passed the infamous McCain-Feingold legislation, which, among other things, silenced our collective voices during election season.

NOW Senator McCain is taking the next step in his crusade to totally eliminate the First Amendment and silence your voice in the political process altogether.

Under the guise of a "lobbying reform" measure, McCain is pushing his latest First Amendment assault, Senate Bill 2128 -- the so-called "Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act of 2005.” Essentially, this cruel hoax against the American people has very little to do with reforming lobbying and has just about everything to do with shutting you up and stripping you of your First Amendment rights.

And frankly, if S. 2128 is passed, our ability to keep you informed about what’s going on in Washington will be severely compromised.

And that's just what John McCain and many of our elected leaders in Washington want!

This time around, John McCain MUST be stopped!

 

Use the hyperlink below to send your URGENT Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and all 55 Republicans in the United States Senate.  Tell them that S. 2128 is nothing more than a cleverly disguised attempt to cut everyday Americans like you OUT OF THE POLITICAL EQUATION.

Tell them you will not tolerate this assault against your First Amendment rights.  Tell them that stifling the free speech and assembly rights of everyday Americans IS NOT lobbying reform!

http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/lobbyreform.html

If the above hyperlink does not function, please copy and paste it into the address bar of your browser.

"One is tempted to conclude that Senator McCain either has a police state mentality or has decided now is the time to shut up those pesky folks at the grassroots who are always paying attention to issues and bothering him with their complaints."

-- Wes Vernon in an article published by Renew America --

Vernon isn't the only one talking about S. 2128.  More quotes appear further down in this letter.  But consider what Dr. Richard Lessner, the former Executive Director of the American Conservative Union just wrote about S. 2128:

[R]ather than cut itself off cold turkey from the lobbyists' largess, Congress instead will further
limit the public's participation in the political process, insulate members against those pesky bands of citizen-activists, and muzzle public criticism or scrutiny of their records...

It's little wonder why some politicians despise grassroots groups. Such organizations tend to make life uncomfortable. They draw the public's attention to issues some politicians would rather avoid. They publicize voting records and issue vote scorecards. They mount letter writing and email campaigns.

So instead of controlling their own behavior, the Republicans want to hide behind measures to restrict the constitutional rights of the citizenry, limit the public’s access to their representatives, and further insulate politicians against scrutiny. And this is reform?

But this isn't the first time McCain has attacked your First Amendment rights under the guise of "reform."

Under McCain-Feingold – also known among conservatives as the Bipartisan Gag Act – groups like the Center for Individual Freedom are now effectively forbidden -- in a number of ways -- from criticizing federal candidates 60 days prior to an election.

When he proposed McCain-Feingold, McCain told the American people that he wanted to reform the campaign finance laws.  But what he did instead was to hamper the ability of not-for-profit grass-roots organizations like the Center for Individual Freedom to tell you where he stood on the issues prior to an election.

Now McCain’s at it again:  In Gag Act II (S. 2128), John McCain and his co-conspirators on the left are trying to stuff new legislation down our throats --  apparently we weren’t effectively silenced enough by McCain-Feingold.

Essentially S. 2128 grabs groups like the Center for Individual Freedom, and a host of others; slams us against the wall, and tells us to keep our mouths shut.

In short, under S. 2128, McCain is essentially telling us that from now on... when we plan to alert you and enlist your aid to fight one of his future legislative abuses, we will have to file reams of paperwork and we will have to tell HIM (and the political opposition) all about it -- we will have to tell HIM what we are going to do and how we plan to do it -- we have to tell HIM how much money we plan to spend -- and we will have to tell HIM the names of those who help us.

Here's what Tony Perkins of the Family research Council had to say:

"Section 105 of their bill would force advertisers, printers, direct mail outfits, and other vendors that we do business with to tell Congress twenty days in advance about any campaign of public information we conduct. In effect, the legislation would force nonprofits like FRC to give an advance signal to Planned Parenthood about what we are doing. The problem of corrupt "lobbying" is real. But groups like FRC exist to inform Americans about what their Members of Congress are doing under the Capitol dome. Only an informed electorate can really have an impact in our democracy."

The intended result is to make it difficult for us to be your watchdog... tell you about the abuses in Washington and call you to action.

If John McCain’s latest Mr. Fixit project -- S. 2128 -- is enacted into law, federal bureaucrats could run us off the Internet.

And that's what John McCain really wants.

Does that sound like a free society to you?
 

Use the hyperlink below to send your URGENT Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and all 55 Republicans in the United States Senate.  Tell them that S. 2128 is nothing more than a cleverly disguised attempt to cut everyday Americans like you OUT OF THE POLITICAL EQUATION.

Tell them you will not tolerate this assault against your First Amendment rights.  Tell them that stifling the free speech and assembly rights of everyday Americans IS NOT lobbying reform!

http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/lobbyreform.html

If the above hyperlink does not function, please copy and paste it into the address bar of your browser.

"If McCain’s provision stays intact, grassroots organizations would for the first time be subject to requirements and regulations that would devastate their ability to reach out to the general public."

-- Tim Chapman in an article published by Town Hall --

You see, John McCain doesn't like us.  Here's why:

He doesn't like us because we were among the first to alert you that he was working behind the scenes to double-cross his own party’s leadership and torpedo the Nuclear/Constitutional Option to end the Democratic filibustering of judicial nominees.

He doesn’t like us because we led the battle to defeat that McCain Amendment that would have required our troops to molly-coddle captured terrorists.

And now that he’s likely to run for president, he figures the more you DON'T know about him, the better his chances are to get your vote. He can keep you in the dark about his record if he can only put people like us out of business.

That’s what this legislation is about.  It's nothing more than an attempt to silence the Watchdogs of Washington.

And we need your help to stop him. Please don’t let him get away with this one!

This isn’t the first time we’ve pursued John McCain.  Please don't let it be the last.

 

Use the hyperlink below to send your URGENT Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and all 55 Republicans in the United States Senate.  Tell them that S. 2128 is nothing more than a cleverly disguised attempt to cut everyday Americans like you OUT OF THE POLITICAL EQUATION.

Tell them you will not tolerate this assault against your First Amendment rights.  Tell them that stifling the free speech and assembly rights of everyday Americans IS NOT lobbying reform!

http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/lobbyreform.html

If the above hyperlink does not function, please copy and paste it into the address bar of your browser.

"The Senate is considering 'lobbying reform' language that may inhibit your ability to contact them... but one proposal will have a catastrophic impact on grassroots communications with constituents: strict regulation of organizations reaching out to supporters.

In S. 2128, some Senators are targeting any organization that decides to mobilize individuals to call,
write, or otherwise pressure their elected officials in Washington..."

-- Americans For Tax Reform --

And speaking of what John McCain doesn’t want you to know, remember this:

McCain was one of the Keating Five – a team of U.S. Senators who received fat contributions from Charles Keating and improperly intervened in Keating’s behalf.  About McCain, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics reported the following:

“Mr. Keating, his associates, and his friends contributed $56,000 for Senator McCain's two House races in 1982 and 1984, and $54,000 for his 1986 Senate race. Mr. Keating also provided his corporate plane and/or arranged for payment for the use of commercial or private aircraft on several occasions for travel by Senator McCain and his family, for which Senator McCain ultimately provided reimbursement when called upon to do so. Mr. Keating also allowed Senator McCain and his family to vacation with Mr. Keating and his family, at a home provided by Mr. Keating in the Bahamas, in each of the calendar years 1983 through 1986.”

Charles Keating was convicted of racketeering and fraud in both state and federal court.

McCain – the only Republican among the five -- got a slap on the wrist from the Senate Select Ethics Committee.

But that's not all!

Over the past five years, over 70 percent of the money John McCain has raised has come from out of state donors and much of that money has come from powerful special interests.

According to Center for Responsive Politics, here are some of the industries that have made hard and soft money donations to John McCain during his career:

Finance/Insurance/Real Estate Interests - $4,100,507
Communications/Electronics Interests - $2,309,441
Lawyers & Lobbyists Interests - $1,866,933
Health Interests - $1,284,138
Transportation Interests - $1,091,938

You better believe that these special interests have a say in government as far as John McCain is concerned... but as for you... well that's another matter.

Can you believe this guy?  Mr. Reformer. Shaking his finger at YOU -- out to get the American people who tell tales on him!

Let's be honest.  In McCain's estimation, the powerful moneyed special interests aren't the problem!

In McCain's estimation, YOU are the problem!

In our estimation... McCain is the problem.  And you are the solution but only if you act NOW!
 

Use the hyperlink below to send your URGENT Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and all 55 Republicans in the United States Senate.  Tell them that S. 2128 is nothing more than a cleverly disguised attempt to cut everyday Americans like you OUT OF THE POLITICAL EQUATION.

Tell them you will not tolerate this assault against your First Amendment rights.  Tell them that stifling the free speech and assembly rights of everyday Americans IS NOT lobbying reform!

http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/lobbyreform.html

If the above hyperlink does not function, please copy and paste it into the address bar of your browser.

"Sen. McCain has struck again. In an effort to reap political advantage from the current controversies in Congress, McCain has now introduced S. 2128 -- the so-called Lobbying Transparency and
Accountability Act.

In this bill, McCain targets his wrath on groups like GOA -- requiring them to register their 'grassroots' communications with their members and to file twice as many frivolous reports.

Sen. McCain would rather shine the spotlight on us and YOU, rather than shine the spotlight on
himself..."

-- Gun Owners Of America --

By the way, the Center for Individual Freedom doesn’t have any "clients."

We don't funnel hard and soft-money contributions to political candidates in exchange for legislation that makes us millions of dollars.

We don't throw expensive parties for politicians or pay their air fares to exotic places or give them VIP tickets to baseball games.

That's what the lobbyists who abuse the system do and under S. 2128, these practices will continue; albeit under more "stringent reporting requirements."

We just act as a source of information for people like you. And we give you a powerful means to take action, make your voice heard and engage YOU -- everyday Americans -- in the political process.

Let's make it abundantly clear: John McCain is not trying to reform the system.  McCain is after people who tell tales, and there are plenty of tales to tell about John McCain.

We’ll pass them along to you as long as we’re in the game. But that may depend on how successful he is in promoting this latest “reform scam.”

And you can bet the liberal media will support him. They too want to put groups like us out of business.

We're in business because we care about you.

If you care about us, please help on this one.


 

Use the hyperlink below to send your URGENT Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and all 55 Republicans in the United States Senate.  Tell them that S. 2128 is nothing more than a cleverly disguised attempt to cut everyday Americans like you OUT OF THE POLITICAL EQUATION.

Tell them you will not tolerate this assault against your First Amendment rights.  Tell them that stifling the free speech and assembly rights of everyday Americans IS NOT lobbying reform!

http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/lobbyreform.html

If the above hyperlink does not function, please copy and paste it into the address bar of your browser.