Congress Attempting to Put Political Blogs Out of Business

Powerline, Instapundit and others are reporting that the Online Freedom of Speech Act has failed to pass the house, which means political blogs (such as this one) could be subject to FEC regulations which, thanks to McCain-Feingold, could greatly restrict the information presented. Congressman Mark Kennedy of Minnesota is a proponent of the legislation and had this to say (h/t Powerline):

I'm horribly disappointed that this important measure failed to pass. This bill was designed to protect the free speech rights of Americans whose only alleged crime is wanting to use the Internet to express their opinions.

I disagree with the mainstream media elites who seem to think that an unregulated media is dangerous, unless it is them who are being regulated. What is disturbing and dangerous to me, and to the constituents I represent, is the ease with which so many advocate government regulation of speech.

Bloggers are everyday citizens. They are our neighbors, friends, and coworkers who want to be able to share their ideas without asking permission from a gatekeeper in the mainstream media and certainly not from a government official. They are the historical descendants of Founding Fathers like Thomas Paine and other pamphleteers who contributed enormously to our democracy.

We are trying to spread a message of hope, opportunity, and freedom around the world. I supported this legislation so that we don't lose the ability to have that message shared among the American people, and I am frankly disappointed that a majority of Members don't see it that way.

I don't think this is the end of it, and any attempt by the FEC to regulate blogs would surely be met with a legal challenge (there are some pretty high profile lawyer/bloggers out there), and this is one fight on which the left and the right could agree. However, it's frightening to realize just how easily our free speech rights can be taken away.

John Hinderocker at Powerline has this to say:

What is happening here is that certain people--the editorial board of the New York Times, the Democrats on the Federal Election Commission--are trying to put sites like this one out of business. Frankly, I haven't followed the progress of the Online Freedom of Speech Act closely because I thought the idea that the FEC would try to shut down political discussion on the web was ridiculous. It appears that we have to take the threat to our First Amendment rights more seriously.

Stay tuned.