Federal Campaign Laws Require Donor's Occupation and Employer: Fair or Foul?
Fef
2012/08/17 19:00:00
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The Constitution of the United States of America guarantees Americans the right to free speech in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. The Founding Fathers wrote this to allow people to disagree with their government and to avoid recrimination or persecution for their opposition or support of any political beliefs.
Campaign finance laws now require Americans to list their occupation and employer when donating money to a political campaign. Laws also require publicly publishing the names of donors, the recipient and the amount. This can chill free speech because anyone can look up donations and use it to punish someone. For instance, an employer may secretly disqualify an applicant because he donated to a different political party.
The First Amendment of the Constitution:
From the Mitt Romney 2012 donation form:
"Federal law requires us to obtain and report your occupation and the name of your employer. If you are not employed, please enter None."
From the Barack Obama 2012 donation form:
"Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle."
Does requiring information about employment violate the First Amendment? Or is it a fair federal law?
Campaign finance laws now require Americans to list their occupation and employer when donating money to a political campaign. Laws also require publicly publishing the names of donors, the recipient and the amount. This can chill free speech because anyone can look up donations and use it to punish someone. For instance, an employer may secretly disqualify an applicant because he donated to a different political party.
The First Amendment of the Constitution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
From the Mitt Romney 2012 donation form:
"Federal law requires us to obtain and report your occupation and the name of your employer. If you are not employed, please enter None."
From the Barack Obama 2012 donation form:
"Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle."
Does requiring information about employment violate the First Amendment? Or is it a fair federal law?
Read More: https://www.mittromney.com/donate/romney-ryan-bump...
Top Opinion
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Zuggi 2012/08/17 00:39:30
Not much reason behind your statements.
& depersonalizes the (captive?) listener.
Somewhere over the Rainbow?
Just because we have the Right to speak does not mean that we are required to identify ourselves.
I think you need to read the whole Constitution.
if so, then your nation is a farce.
"A government big enough to give you everything can also take everything away",
"Tyranny and Oppression will arrive on the shores in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy" - Thomas Paine
"When a man casts a longing eye on office, a rottenness begins in his conduct" - Thomas Jefferson
"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. He who molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or decisions possible or impossible to execute"
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time"
- Abraham Lincoln
"to put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order, to put the nation in order we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order we must first cultivate our personal life, we must set our hearts right"
- Confucius
Your assumption is made with a lack of knowledge or fact. (Pretty much like your other statements.)
All three authors of the Federalist Papers (Alexander Hamilton, James
Madison, and John Jay) signed their essays "Publius" for Publius Valerius Publicola, a Roman Consul.
Silence Dogood and Poor Richard...Benjamin Franklin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How...
Ps: Thomas Paine, Abe Lincoln (1809-1865) and Confucius (551–479 BC) had nothing to do with the writing of the Founding Documents.
Paine did write the pamphlet "Common Sense" which played a big part in the revolution. You might want to read it (along with the other Founding Documents.)
Besides I'm consistently getting two rave per response I make so other folks may have different (& also not lesser) opinions than you. You're not the ONLY one that matters (may think so but… ).
BTW, I was looking over your comments and didn't notice any TUs.
Also, I answer your statement with facts and all you can do is imply that I may have Asperger's Syndrome!
How old are you anyway? 8, 10?? Like I said, you have a lot to learn. And i might add, a lot of growing up to do.
Somebody got played here--you, the average U.S. citizen.
Unless you bought a product like a shirt or something like that.. I don't think product sites have the same requirements.
First, committees using the Internet for fundraising must make "best efforts" to obtain and report the identification of donors who contribute more than $200 during a calendar year. Committees must maintain electronic records and contributor data for three years after the date on which it reported the contributions. AOs 1999-22 and 1995-09.
And here's the page it's on if you want to read the whole thing...
http://www.fec.gov/pages/broc...
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The Romney campaign SHOULD have had a place to ask you the information or have you sign in so they can ask you for that information if they see you've donated over 200 dollars that year by my read of the law.
1.to keep folks that really aren't allowed to donate due to certain jobs from donations on line
2. to try to keep track of who is who to avoid problems with the same or similar names...
They probably think asking for an employer is less invasive than asking for name, address, and phone every time.
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od...
But I don't think it says you HAVE to ask where someone works.. it's probably just easier to keep track of people that way and that they do have to do.