[Politech] Campaign finance "reformers" may have overstepped on Net-regs [fs]

From: Declan McCullagh (declan@private)
Date: Thu Jun 30 2005 - 10:06:51 PDT


See a related (but not quite as pointed) column I wrote in March:
http://news.com.com/2010-1071_3-5637778.html
"After a public outcry over government regulation of bloggers, some of
Congress' most ardent campaign finance reformers have found themselves
in a politically uncomfortable position."

-Declan

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	'Reform' Overreach
Date: 	Thu, 30 Jun 2005 11:40:56 -0400
From: 	Sager, Ryan <RSager@private>

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/25626.htm

HUBRIS has its costs, and America's self-appointed speech police are 
paying them in Washington, D.C., this week.
...

After getting their way for years Ñ with the help of reporters who 
shared the reformers' distrust of "big money" in politics Ñ they may 
have overreached.

Ever since FEC Commissioner Brad Smith sounded the alarm over the coming 
rulemaking back in March, the agency has been deluged with comments from 
bloggers fearing a crackdown on their right to sound off on their Web 
sites without running afoul of election laws.

At this week's hearings, things got more dire for the reformers, as even 
Democrats Ñ traditionally more friendly to their cause Ñ jumped ship.
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