Senate Bill 1 (Section 220)

The Senate is planning to pass a bill that will discourage grassroots lobbying groups from forming. The bill will fine any grassroots group that does not report issues, employees, contractors and dollars spent in what is called "paid efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying." The fine is up to $100,000. To me this bill is close to violating the freedom to assemble right.

It seems to and others that it sounds like the Senate does not want to be bothered with their constituents have to say. They don't want to be bothered with phone calls, emails, etc. That smacks of elitism. I can understand eliminating bribes from lobbyists--which is what I believe what the voters really want in lobbying reform--but not discouraging voters from communicating with them. When the legislative branch does not want to listen to what the voters have to say then you have the legislative branch potentially out-of-control.

For the reader who does not belong to a lobbying group you may think this bill is not important. But what if you wanted to join a special interest group or even start your own? What if you got your friends, family and neighbors together to email a Senator about a particular issue? This bill might discourage you from doing that. There is nothing wrong with lobbying groups as long as they don't bribe a Senator. A Senator might ignore one email about an issue, but it is hard to ignore 50 or 100 emails from different people about the same issue.

I should say this bill is sponsored by Harry Reid (D-NV). And it has so far 13 Democrats co-sponsoring it and four Republicans co-sponsors. It's funny that the Democrats say President Bush does not listen to the American people about the Iraq War when the people sponsoring this bill do not want to listen to the American people. I hope the President vetoes this bill if it reaches his desk.