From 73Wire.com: There is much behind the story of what got us here; Democrats historically have painted a picture of the GOP being evil and corrupted by the big money from the big donors that they would have you believe are the root cause of all that has gone wrong with America. From “big oil” to Wall Street to rich people of all shapes and sizes, Democrats want to decide for us who can be trusted and who can not. Of course, anyone paying close enough attention will quickly realize that organizations such as CodePink, MoveOn, the now-defunct ACORN, and the SEIU (read “big” labor) have been in the back pockets of Democrats for a generation…so the real issue here is not THAT a lot of money is at stake when Politicians run for office…it’s which stack of cash is clean and which is dirty…and who DECIDES.

In the case of the recently-passed DISCLOSE Act, the lights have finally been turned on in America’s kitchen and the Democrat roaches are ducking for cover (along with the 2 Republicans who voted alongside them- Cao and Castle). It’s a fairly short bill compared with others (such as the Health Care Reform debacle) and even those not readily inclined to understand “lawyer speak” should be able to traverse its sections and “wherefores” sufficiently enough to understand its basic intent…what is less obvious is the impact it will have on our ability to directly participate in the Political process…OUR political process…to the extent our Constitution had always intended.

This bill will allow big organizations to continue donating big dollars to Politicians, so long as their membership is over 500,000 strong, they have at least one member residing in every state, and they meet certain tax-exempt criteria. It also prevents large dollars from being donated by individuals and small groups and… in my opinion worst of all…it extends to 90 days prior to an election all the limitations to free speech we were guaranteed in the Constitution would never be abridged… and just barely “got back” when the Supreme Court struck down parts of the ill-conceived McCain-Feingold bill when it rendered its Citizens United decision:

‘(B) in the case of a communication which refers to a candidate for any other Federal office, the period–
‘(i) beginning with the date that is 90 days before the earliest of the primary election, preference election, or nominating convention with respect to the nomination for the office that the candidate is seeking; and
‘(ii) ending with the date of the general election for such office.

This is outrageous. But it is instructive as well. We can no longer engage in discussions about candidates and their campaigns and their policy positions during the period 90 days prior to their primary/caucus/conventions and running all the way through the November election. In the case of President and Vice President it’s 120 days. Not only are we not allowed to speak…we’re not allowed to speak during the WHOLE of the campaign and election cycle when people are actually paying attention enough to consider whether they’ll even bother going to the polls! Democrats have the most to gain here…it is the Democrat party “we, the People” mean to teach a lesson to in 2010, and they’re trying to fend off the revolt that’s already being amassed against them before it’s too late.

On the grounds of having our freedom of speech revoked, alone, this bill should not be signed into law. I’m moderately optimistic that, even if Obama DOES sign it, the Supreme Court will quickly strike it down. Until then, you only need to understand 2 simple points; we’re not allowed to speak with our mouths or keyboards or checkbooks, and unless we belong to an organization with membership sizes only the big Labor Unions currently enjoy, we’re not even allowed to participate in a campaign…other than to cast a vote in the primary and the General election.

Understand this as you consider the implications for Tea Party movements, people looking to become Precinct Committeemen, or work directly FOR a campaign; don’t bother (according to the Democrat intentions here) because your voice won’t count, your money’s not welcome, and your opinion is no longer suitable for public purview…it has been outlawed.