"Mowing Down the Grassroots"

[unixronin]

How to suppress free speech de facto without banning it de jure:

Under these laws, so-called “grassroots lobbyists” must register with the state and file frequent and detailed reports about their contributions, expenditures and activities even if they never contact an elected official.  Such regulations set a legal trap for unsuspecting citizens; other than professional politicians and lobbyists, no ordinary citizen would think to consult a lawyer and register with the state before speaking out on a public issue.

Dr. Milyo’s research revealed that these regulations are complex and not accessible to ordinary people.  The first paragraph of Massachusetts’ new lobbying law, for example, scored 0.9 on a 100-point scale in a readability test.  Going by such tests, it would take 34 years of formal education to understand that paragraph; not even a doctorate from MIT or Harvard would be enough.

There's lots more where that came from.

Comments

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

that sounds rather fascist to me.

where do i register? ;)

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[wyrdling.livejournal.com]

has this thing passed?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I'm not certain, but I think so.