Political Quotes

“To what extent, if any, should the Federal Government regulate political free speech in America? The campaign finance debate is not just about politicians and their campaigns. At the core of this debate are the values and freedoms guaranteed by the first amendment. As a consequence, I suggest when Government attempts to place limitations on speech, it has an overwhelming burden to demonstrate why such restrictions to our fundamental freedoms are necessary. Surely the Government can no more dictate how many words a newspaper can print than it can limit a political candidate's ability to communicate with his or her constituents, yet that is precisely what the sponsors of this legislation are proposing for candidates for office. The McCain-Feingold legislation bristles with over a dozen different restrictions on speech, provisions that I believe flagrantly violate the first amendment as interpreted by the Supreme Court.”