Extremely URGENT

[caagirl 0]

Senate Tired of Your E-mails, Phone Calls; Expected to Pass Bill that Will Keep You From Getting Needed Information.

Dear Angela,

Without a doubt, this could be the most important letter I have written you.

The U.S. Senate is poised to pass Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), which would effectively keep AFA and every other pro-family organization in America from providing you information on bills in Congress. Under Senate Bill 1 (Section 220), we would only be able to provide you information on a bill at a high cost and at great danger of being penalized by Congress.

To put it bluntly, members of Congress are tired of getting your e-mails and phone calls, and Senate Bill 1(Section 220) is designed to keep information from you that might inspire you to call or write your senator.

Click Here to read AFA's review of Senate Bill 1 (Section 220).

The new Democratic Senate thinks that if it can keep you from getting information—which is what Senate Bill 1 (Section 220) would do—then it will not be getting e-mails and phone calls from you.

Senators favoring this bill are simply tired of hearing from you. That is the bottom line. They don’t want to hear from you. They don’t want you to be informed. They want to silence you. How? By simply keeping you from receiving information that AFA provides.

I know that language is strong, but Senate Bill 1 (Section 220) will do exactly what I’ve said.

(Everyone this will effect everything so please call your senate and say no for this bill our freedom of speech is leaving if this bill gets passed! )

Sincerely,Christina Nisar

[peejay 327]

It is not only AFA, but any other organization will be impacted too. Many organizations inform their members of pending legislation affecting their members. Organizations I belong to even host FAXs that can be sent to our US Senators, US House Representatives, the President, etc. via their website to let their legislators know how their constituents feel about pending legislation. Often I get e-mail elerts to call or FAX from organizations I belong to.

It is outrageous that the American public are to be barred from informing our government officials of our position on pending legislation. Those arrogant bastards!

As usual...it is the high $$$ lobbyists that will get access to our legislators and buy their way into pending legislation.

If this is reform...the Democrats can go to hell! This totally sucks!

[kitkat1 5]

Did a little research and here's what I found:

Section 220 applies to lobbying efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying on behalf of a client. Unless AFA is accepting money for its advocacy, I don't see how it would be affected. In fact, the reporting requirements AFA is whimpering about are for the reporting of income related to those lobbying efforts - that is, payments from those clients.

So because of AFA's sloppy research, a lot of well-intentioned but misinformed Americans are going to pester their Senators and others about Section 220, which doesn't apply to AFA unless AFA is getting money foror promoting grassroots activity.

[Alex+R 0]

Did a little research and here's what I found:

Section 220 applies to lobbying efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying on behalf of a client. Unless AFA is accepting money for its advocacy, I don't see how it would be affected. In fact, the reporting requirements AFA is whimpering about are for the reporting of income related to those lobbying efforts - that is, payments from those clients.

So because of AFA's sloppy research, a lot of well-intentioned but misinformed Americans are going to pester their Senators and others about Section 220, which doesn't apply to AFA unless AFA is getting money foror promoting grassroots activity.

I hate when organizations pull this #######. C'mon people! Do more research on things than e-mails you get! They have a bias! When I get an e-mail from Planned Parenthood, for example, I do my own research. Luckily they are usually not trying to hide their financial records.

Plus. I love the idea that "senators are tired of hearing from you." That's hilarious and I hope nobody is "naive" enough to fall for it.

[peejay 327]

Did a little research and here's what I found:

Section 220 applies to lobbying efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying on behalf of a client. Unless AFA is accepting money for its advocacy, I don't see how it would be affected. In fact, the reporting requirements AFA is whimpering about are for the reporting of income related to those lobbying efforts - that is, payments from those clients.

So because of AFA's sloppy research, a lot of well-intentioned but misinformed Americans are going to pester their Senators and others about Section 220, which doesn't apply to AFA unless AFA is getting money foror promoting grassroots activity.

So you are saying that if the organizations that I belong to are "non-profits" that are funded by the members themselves through donations...they are exempt? If so...that is reasonable.

At first, I got the impression that this legislation was intended to reduce or eliminate their (Senators') offices from being bombarded with FAXs, phone calls, and e-mail from constituents that are generated from alerts issued by our non-profit organizations.

Of course I cannot keep up with pending and new legislation on issues that are of personal importance to me...that is why I join and support organizations that have similar concerns on issues as me. That is what democracy is all about.

[kitkat1 5]

I think the point is that this email campaign is 100% misinformation. The American public are NOT going to be barred from informing our government officials of our position on pending legislation. The bill references "lobbying efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying on behalf of a client" - nothing more. This has no impact on regular people who want to contact their senators or congressman and the entire campaign is already posted on many urban myth sites:

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/l/lobbyists.htm

Summary of the eRumor:

An alert from the American Family Association (AFA) that says that a new bill (Senate Bill 1, Section 220) will "...effectively keep AFA and every other pro-family organization in America from providing you information on bills in Congress." The emails says that members of Congress are tired of getting your emails and phone calls, don't want to hear from you and are trying to restrict information that might inspire you to call or write.

The Truth:

The legislation in Senate Bill 1, section 220, is part of what is being called the Lobby Reform Bill. It proposes changes regarding what lobbyists are required to disclose and how often. A part of the bill, section 220, is about lobbyists who become involved in so called grassroots campaigns such as appealing to the general public to support or oppose legislation and to tell members of congress how they feel about it.

Opponents of the legislation say it is an attempt to silence grassroots campaigns by putting reporting requirements on them that will cost a lot of time and money to implement. They say, for example, that under the legislation any small group that sends out communication to more than 500 people will be required to register as a lobbying group and be subject to the reporting regulations.

Supporters of the bill, however, say that the reporting requirements apply only to organizations and lobbyists who are already required to register and who are spending a lot of money on lobbying activities. In other words, it targets the big lobbyists. If an organization already qualifies as a lobby and spends more than $24,500 semi-annually on direct lobbying activities, it will be required to report on any grass roots activity as well.

[Alex+R 0]

So basically,

In other words, it targets the big lobbyists. If an organization already qualifies as a lobby and spends more than $24,500 semi-annually on direct lobbying activities, it will be required to report on any grass roots activity as well.

Edited January 13, 2007 by Alex+R