I Prayed have prayed
Father, please give our legislators Your wisdom in exposing the foolishness of H.R. 1, now lingering before the U.S. Senate.
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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Prv 1:7)

… Trump shouldn’t call the media “the enemy of the people” or inveigh against Jeff Bezos for owning the Washington Post, but Nancy Pelosi’s H.R. 1, which passed the House last week, is the true affront to the Constitution.

The wide-ranging legislation purports to reform campaign finance with a series of vague, sweeping measures that will act to chill speech when they don’t actively regulate or squelch it. H.R. 1 is called the For the People Act but would be more aptly titled the Be Careful What You Say, It Might Be Illegal Act.

Progressives can’t abide the notion that people in this country get together to spend money on advocacy outside the purview of the government — in other words, freely promote their favored causes as befits a free people living in a free country.

H.R. 1 cracks the whip. As the Institute for Free Speech points out, the current campaign-finance rules limit expenditures that expressly advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate, or refer to a candidate in public advertising shortly before an election. The idea is to have clear rules so groups can promote their views without fear of running afoul of federal regulations.

H.R. 1 blows this regime up. It seeks to regulate any speech at any time that “promotes or supports the candidate, or attacks or opposes an opponent of the candidate,” a fuzzy standard that could catch up all manner of nonelectoral messages (e.g., “Trump’s tariffs are a mistake,” or “Support Trump’s wall”).

H.R. 1 also widens the definition of coordination between a group and a candidate to encompass almost any communication. It’d still be permissible to discuss a candidate’s position on an issue, so long as there is no talk “regarding the candidate’s or committee’s campaign advertising, message, strategy, policy, polling, allocation of resources, fundraising, or other campaign activities.”

Even if a group doesn’t coordinate with a candidate under this loose standard, it could still be deemed to have coordinated if it were founded by someone who goes on to become a candidate; relies on the professional services of someone who also did work for a candidate; or is run by someone who had conversations about a campaign with the relative of a candidate.

On top of all this, H.R. 1 goes after the privacy of donors to advocacy organizations. It mandates the disclosure of the names and addresses of donors giving more than $10,000 to groups that engage in “campaign-related disbursements.” Given our toxic political environment, this would potentially subject the donors to harassment and abuse, and they might not even be aware of or support the communications in question….

The Supreme Court has long put an emphasis on bright lines in its campaign-finance jurisprudence exactly to avoid a chilling effect on advocacy. It has said that laws must be “both easily understood and objectively determinable.” The campaign-finance provisions of H.R. 1 are neither.

What H.R. 1 makes abundantly clear is that the foremost threat to the First Amendment are the people who believe that there is something untoward about unregulated political speech and seek to bring it under control. (Excerpts from Rich Lowry article in The National Review)

Download a Heritage Foundation Fact Sheet about this terrible legislation.

 

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Felicia Penner
March 14, 2019

HR 1 is an attack on our First Amendment: “Free Speech”. Lord, i pray that all who are on the Hill will know of this cunning attack and stand to oppose it. We thank you Lord for the liberty we enjoy in this country, forgive us for taking it for granted. Forgive us for hiding our light under a bushel, failing to be salt and light in this country you have blessed us to live in. And forgive us Lord for not living for you as we should. Help us do as you ask and repent and pray that you would heal our land. In Jesus name, Amen

Mary Morin
March 14, 2019

Why shouldn’t the President say loud and constantly that the media is the enemy of the people? Or that Jeff Bezos and other media companies should be prosecuted and held accountable for their lies? Do you know anything about the history, financial sources and antichrist agenda and network behind them? The sex trafficking and pedophilia? No, I can’t aupport this part of the prayer. Even our top Christian leaders are very very uninformed.

    Cathy
    March 14, 2019

    Mary Mornin, agreed. Just read in Nehemiah this morning, “Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: And cover not their iniquity…And it came people to pass… God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. Neh. 4:4,5,15.

      Lee Brown
      March 15, 2019

      I totally agree with Mary and Kathy! The media is owned by the Rothschilds. Praise God we have a president you isn’t afraid to call media an “enemy of the people”! It is the enemy of the people because it releases lies and deception.
      Beware, The “Family of God” has the same politically correct spirit as the world. HR1 isn’t Nancy P’s agenda it’s satans agenda and his plan is to steal, kill and destroy this country! In prayer we are not battling people…we are in a war. We all know it’s the Kingdom of darkness against the kingdom of Light. It’s time prayer people learn their weapons of warfare which are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Saints of God, it’s so important you learn Spiritual Warfare!

Becky
March 14, 2019

Heavenly Father, I pray for an increase of understanding and appreciation for our democracy, our heritage, our foundation. May we recognize the value of freedom. May we wisely, respectfully utilize our liberty and freedoms. I pray for leaders and elected officials who value protection of our freedoms to be effective. As distinction between right and wrong, between moral and immoral blurs, I pray for a clarity to rise, for Your Truth to bring light, wisdom for all to acknowledge and honor Your Glory.

    Florence
    March 14, 2019

    I thoroughly, completely prayerfully agree with Becky’s prayer and the heart from which it came!
    In The Name of Jesus!

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