The 1st Amendment does not guarantee our freedoms; it only denies Congress the authority to write laws that abridge them. Only Congress can violate the 1st Amendment and the Federal Campaign Act and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act do. These laws abridge freedoms of speech, press by limiting how much money individual citizens and citizens groups can donate to their candidates and issues, and they abridge freedom of assembly by declaring it a crime for candidates, political parties and grass roots organizations to coordinate their advertising campaigns.

Americans who are for campaign reform say corporations are not people and new laws are necessary to restrict corporate influence on elections. But Commercial media are special interests and dependent on the advertising dollars of other special interests.

Campaign laws that regulate political communications by citizens and citizens groups and exempt newspapers and broadcasters do not level the playing field or protect citizens. When grass roots can spend unlimited soft money challengers are more likely to win.

Instead campaign laws give corporations a megaphone and muzzle grassroots communications. If freedom of religion was defined using the same logic campaign reforms use to define a free press only the church or synagogue “as an institution” would enjoy freedom of religion, not its parishioners.

Freedoms of speech, press and assembly are the unalienable rights of flesh and blood people and not corporations. Newspapers have the right to publish because they employee people and not the other way around.

Call your Congressman and Senators and demand the press exemption be extended to all citizens and citizens groups that wish to participate in our Republic!

2 USC 431 (9) (B) The term “expenditure” does not include - (i) any news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication, unless such facilities are owned or controlled by any political party, political committee, or candidate;

This law divides participation in America’s political process into two categories: The regulated majority, every living U.S. Citizen, candidate for office, political party and political organization and the unregulated commercial media.

This leaves the unrestricted institutional press in a unique position to decide what issues and candidates are important enough to discuss.

To restore equal protection under law, the language of 2 U.S.C. 431 (9) (B) (i) must be modified to restore the rights of flesh and blood citizens. I suggest the following changes: “The term expenditure does not include any news story, commentary, or editorial distributed by any citizen, citizens group, broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication.”

E Pluribus Unum might just as well be replaced by ZZZZZZZZZZZZ$$$$