The Singular Mind

Political bloggers may be forced to register as lobbyists

S.1, a lobbying reform bill in the Senate, if passed, would force everyone, including bloggers, to register as a lobbyist and report quarterly to Congress if they comments on government policy or tries to start a "grassroots" campaign and communicates to 500 or more people.

That wouldn't be me, because I don't really talk politics on here and I DEFINITELY don't have a 500-person readership (maybe 5), but it still really annoys me. How could they justify that? People engaging in their First Amendment rights by saying what they think and trying to get people (normal people, not elected representatives) to act on it are now lobbyists? That's ridiculous, and people have called and written about Section 220 (the part of the bill that discusses this) to the Senate, as well they should. That annoys me almost as much as that previous bill trying to take away Net Neutrality that was defeated due to the huge public response, and hopefully this one will meet a similar fate.

Article on Section 220.

Labels: Current Events, Politics

posted by Jeremy @ 9:57 AM