Dear Patriot,
In a few hours, the House of Representatives will vote on the so-called SHIELD Act (H.R. 4617) legislation, creating new federal regulations on campaigns and online political advertising -- including issue advocacy ads run by groups like Campaign for Liberty.
The sponsors of this bill claim the regulations will shield the American political process from foreign interference. . .
But the truth is, these regulations are a sword aimed directly at your First Amendment rights!
So please call your U.S. Representative immediately at 202-224-3121 and tell them to vote NO on the SHIELD Act!
Buried in the SHIELD Act is the so-called “Honest Ads Act,” which should be called the NO More Ads Act, because it would limit the ability of groups like Campaign for Liberty to run Internet ads since we’d be buried in time-consuming red tape and costly regulations.
These ads are very effective in mobilizing grassroots activists to turn the heat up on politicians . . . to get them to support pro-liberty legislation like Audit the Fed and to oppose state power grabs like gun control.
But the SHIELD Act would severely limit this method of communicating with supporters.
And even after we jump through all the bureaucratic hoops, there is still a very good chance the bureaucracy will say:
NO FREE SPEECH FOR YOU!
Plus, approved ads will have to reserve large amounts of space for government-mandated “disclaimers” -- meaning our message will be lost.
The Act places further limits on our ability to run issue ads on popular websites in the days, weeks, and even months before an election. . .
The time that people are most interested in the politicians’ stands on the issues!
So please call your U.S. Representative immediately at 202-224-3121 and tell them to shield your First Amendment rights by voting NO on the SHIELD Act.
SHIELD not only limits the ability of pro-liberty groups to mobilize grassroots activists like you via Internet ads, it gives the federal bureaucracy free rein to censor “alternative” news sites while giving a free hand to the mainstream purveyors of fake news. . .
It does this by exempting “legitimate news organizations” from its regulations. . .
And who do you think the bureaucrats are going to define as “legitimate?”
Sites that challenge the welfare-warfare status quo, oppose the “if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear” surveillance state program, or question the benefits of allowing a secretive central bank to control the money supply?
Or sites that dutifully parrot the party line about how big government is necessary to protect us from the marketplace, how we must give up our privacy and bear the cost of empire-building for our safety, and how the Fed prevents -- rather than causes -- economic crashes?
Big tech is already trying to silence voices of dissent like Campaign for Liberty Chairman Ron Paul. This bill will give them the perfect excuse to do so by simply saying. . .
“You’re not a real news site. The government says so.”
So please call your Representative at 202-224-3121 and tell them in a free society, the people get shields from the politicians, not the other way around.
Remember, the vote is in a few hours so call NOW!
We can’t take anything for granted here. . .
Not with the Democrats and the Deep State still pushing the narrative that Russian collusion was responsible for Donald Trump’s victory. . .
Not with more Republicans caving into Deep State demands that the President be impeached. . .
And certainly not with the government working hand-in-glove with big tech to silence news the government doesn’t like!
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has always stood firm against legislation like SHIELD in the past.
But unless he knows the grassroots will stand with him, he might give in to pressure from Republican Senators demanding that the GOP Senate majority Congress “do something” about “foreign interference in the elections”—even if that something blatantly violates the First Amendment!
It is possible that President Trump may even endorse SHIELD if the Deep State lackeys in the GOP convince him he must do it to protect his party and himself from the ridiculous claim that he owed his election to foreign meddling.
That is why it is so important you and I show strong grassroots’ opposition to this bill today!
So please call your U.S. Representative at 202-224-3121 now and tell them to oppose the SHIELD Act.
And then, please chip in whatever you can afford -- whether its $500, $50, or $5 -- to help Campaign for Liberty fight to preserve the First Amendment!
Remember, the vote on the SHIELD Act is just a few hours away. Call your representative NOW!
In Liberty,
Norm Singleton
President