AP: House rejects political-blog bill

[Eugene]

Thursday, November 3, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

House rejects political-blog bill

By Jim Abrams

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Online political expression should not be exempt from
campaign-finance law, the House decided Wednesday as lawmakers warned
that the Internet has opened a new loophole for uncontrolled spending
on elections.

The House voted 225-182 on a bill that would have excluded blogs,
e-mail messages and other Internet communications from regulation by
the Federal Election Commission (FEC). That was 47 votes short of the
two-thirds majority needed under a procedure that limited debate time
and allowed no amendments.

The vote in effect clears the way for the FEC to move ahead with
court-mandated rule-making to govern political speech and campaign
spending on the Internet.

Opposition to the bill was led by Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass., who
championed the 2002 campaign-finance law that banned unlimited
"soft-money" contributions that corporations, unions and individuals
were making to political parties. Meehan said the bill would be
"a major unraveling of the law."

<snip>

More: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002600799_blogbill03.html

[FloridaPat]

1. We The People finally find a way to voice our opinions and congress

wants to get rid of it with campaign laws. Funny how they can move so fast against us, but not police themselves.

[No Exit]

2. Thank you, John McCain

for your campaign finance law which now threatens to deny Americans free speech. I'm not surprised that you and your party would seek to deny us free speech--you and they have worked hard to deny us every other basic right.

Oh, but John... beware the fury of an angry mob.