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" Americans may not always live up to the Bill of Rights, but Americans do not ban books. "
Bradley A. Smith
Up
Rights
Always
Related Quotes:
" Few developments in campaigning have been as vilified and misunderstood as independent expenditure PACs, or, as they are colloquially known, super PACs. "
Bradley A. Smith
Been
Misunderstood
Known
" The reality is that asking the public to fund political campaigns accomplishes nothing. Candidates continue to seek interest-group support through other channels, both financial and in-kind, and corruption problems abound. "
Bradley A. Smith
Problems
Support
Financial
" The DISCLOSE Act is a testament to the wisdom of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United. The First Amendment sought to place political speech beyond the government's control, and we can be glad that it did. "
Bradley A. Smith
Government
Decision
Control
" Every major federal campaign-finance-reform effort since 1943 has attempted to treat corporations and unions equally. If a limit applied to corporations, it applied to unions; if unions could form PACs, corporations could too; and so on. DISCLOSE is the first major campaign-finance bill that has not taken this approach. "
Bradley A. Smith
Effort
First
Limit
" Incumbents don't like it, but political competition is a good thing. Incumbents usually outspend challengers by better than 3 to 1. Super PACs, which tend to support challengers, have nullified some of this advantage. "
Bradley A. Smith
Political
Support
Good
" The usual test under the Federal Election Campaign Act for whether something counts as a campaign expenditure is whether the obligation would have existed but for the campaign. If so, it is not a campaign expenditure. "
Bradley A. Smith
Election
Test
Something
" With super PACs, we've seen voter turnout go up; interest in elections rise; and the number of competitive races increase. The campaigns of 2010 and 2012 have been more issue-oriented than their predecessors, not less. "
Bradley A. Smith
Go
More
Rise
" Even leaving aside government policy, whole industries are already making expensive changes around the perceived need to 'go green.' Al Gore and countless other prophets of global catastrophe are making megamillions pushing these expensive solutions. Schoolchildren around the globe are being frightened by tales of impending calamity. "
Bradley A. Smith
Need
Government
Changes
" Ultimately, the court is heading to a doctrine of 'separation of campaign and state.' This doctrine, like separation of church and state or separation of military and civilian authority, is not explicit in the Constitution but flows naturally from its structure and commitment to freedom and democracy. "
Bradley A. Smith
Church
Freedom
Democracy
" The truth is, the 'Fortune' 500 prefer lobbying to campaigning. "
Bradley A. Smith
Fortune
Truth
Truth Is
" Elections are a competition with only one winner. Giving more money to the opponent every time one speaks on behalf of a favored candidate discourages the speech that triggers the matching funds. "
Bradley A. Smith
Time
Giving
Winner
" The next time you download a book on Kindle, buy a Michael Moore screed at Barnes & Noble, or order up a political movie from video on demand, remember that it is the Supreme Court's decision in 'Citizens United' that guarantees you the right to do so. "
Bradley A. Smith
You
Book
Decision
" There is no evidence that super PACs have led to a greater percentage of negative ads. "
Bradley A. Smith
Super
Led
Greater
" By law, super PACs are required to disclose their donors. There are groups that have never had to disclose their donors, non-profits such as the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, the NAACP, and the NRA. If you want more disclosure, super PACs are a step forward. "
Bradley A. Smith
Forward
Want
You
" If candidates spend money on ads and other political speech and their opponents are rewarded with government handouts to attack them, that chills speech and is unconstitutional. Non-participating candidates certainly don't volunteer to allow their opponents to receive taxpayer subsidies to bash them. "
Bradley A. Smith
Government
Money
Political