Calls For Amending 1st Amendment To Limit Free Speech & Advance UN Tax On American Airlines

Government view of the economy could be summed
up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it.
 If it keeps moving, regulate it.
 And if it stops moving, subsidize it. 
 - Ronald Reagan,  Aug 15, 1986

For those wondering about the "Today In Washington, D.C." postings -- Congress is still in recess, except for pro-forma meetings - until next week, Sept 10th. However, the radical agenda of the current administration and democrats in general continue.

Last week, The Daily Caller reported, “President Barack Obama used the online springboard provided by Reddit to . . . call for a constitutional amendment to curb the free-speech of wealthier people and corporations. ‘I think we need to seriously consider mobilizing a constitutional amendment process to overturn Citizens United. … Even if the amendment process falls short, it can shine a spotlight of the super PAC phenomenon and help apply pressure for change,’ Obama said . . . .”

And today, the recently approved Democratic Party Platform states, “We support campaign finance reform, by constitutional amendment if necessary.”

In an interview with The Daily Caller on Thursday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell blasted Democrats’ desires to amend the First Amendment. “‘It’s an act of genuine radicalism,’ McConnell said when asked about his reaction to the president’s statement. ‘We haven’t amended the First Amendment in 235 years. The First Amendment is the core of not only freedom of religion, freedom to petition the government, and the rest, but most important, freedom of speech,’ McConnell said. ‘And when the founders were thinking of freedom of speech, they were thinking of political speech.’ ‘What the president’s really upset with is the fact that there are a lot of voices out there who’ve gotten organized and don’t like what he’s doing,’ McConnell continued. ‘And so what he wants to try to do is carve a niche out of the First Amendment to give the government, itself the power to determine who speaks and who doesn’t.’”

It’s amazing that Democrats, with President Obama taking the lead, are now running on the idea that the First Amendment needs to be changed. It appears that the First Amendment’s protection of political speech, which the Founders considered essential, is simply too broad in the eyes of today’s Democrat Party.

As Leader McConnell told The Daily Caller, “[I]t’s genuinely radical to think that you would actually amend the United States Constitution in order to give the government itself the power to determine who speaks and who doesn’t.”

Free speech is not the only issue being attacked by democrats. There are too many to list here and we have reported on many of them in other articles.  But as another example, in the past we addressed attacka on American industry.  We have reported on the deliberate efforts to restrict oil and natural gas production and availability within the United States.   Now consider the following report of NRDC actions by the current administration attacking American airline companies.

Big Government reported yesterday, "Jake Schmidt, a director at the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), does not want you to look behind the curtain of the environmental lobby. In a recent article in the Huffington Post, the fringe group leader attempts to hide legitimate policy behind the cloak of a bailout. Mr. Schmidt takes exception to a Senate bill that would reinforce U.S. sovereign air control – calling it a 'bailout' for the airline industry.

"You see, by trying to frame it as a bailout, the NRDC hopes to confuse and – ultimately – provide political cover for the Obama administration to allow decades of international law to fall to the sidelines. The bill stems from a European regulation that runs against decades of international precedent, infringing on the way that countries control their own air space. European regulators – arguably, and this isn’t a complement, the best in the business – ignored that precedent in an effort to impose their judgment on trading partners. That’s not how trade and commerce works, and it is only right that Congress steps in to protect American business.

"But that’s not what fringe environmental groups would like to see. Instead, they subscribe to a 'by any means necessary' approach to passing burdensome regulations. Going through the proper channels – in this case, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a branch of the UN – would show just how flawed the plan is and how resistant the international community is to ceding control of their airspace to Europe.

"The House has passed its own bill that will prohibit the EU’s tax from taking effect.

"Meanwhile, the administration’s outspokenness with Europe’s tax on U.S. businesses is now silent. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has noted in the past that the EU’s proposal was 'lousy,' further warning the Europeans to not '“assume we're all just going to go along with it.' But, with pressure mounting from fringe environmental groups, not a peep has been heard from Secretary LaHood or any Obama official.

"In that absence, it’s time for the Senate to speak up and tell Europe it can’t tax domestic airlines in U.S. airspace."

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Tags: Barack Obama, limit free speech, amend 1st amendment, democrat platform, UN, UN tax, American Air Carriers, American airlines, NRDC To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!