Political Quotes

“In my government class in my junior year of high school, my teacher taught my class about civic duty. We studied the Constitution, and I learned then that that document represents a contract between the U.S. government and us, its citizens; and that as citizens, we are guaranteed certain inalienable rights. Those rights include our freedom of speech. Today we have before us a number of proposals, all addressing the issue of campaign reform. The self-proclaimed reformers will talk about the problems of public cynicism, corruption in politics, and abuse of the system. Their proposed solutions will suggest everything from limiting when certain groups did disseminate their message to capping campaign spending and using tax dollars to fund campaigns. The problem is that at the heart of each of these proposals is a muzzle on first amendment rights, the right to freedom of speech. Members may ask, what does campaign financing have to do with free speech? The answer is, absolutely everything. In the landmark Buckley versus Valeo case, the Supreme Court ruled that being able to raise and spend money is necessary for speech.”