The Senate Back Door To Ending The First Amendment

One of the top communists in the US Senate, New York Democrat Chuck Schumer has introduced a bill called the “Free Flow of Information Act.” One thing that we can count on from Washington socialists and communists–which roam both parties freely these days–is deception. If a bill is named one thing, you can almost be the farm that it means something else. Can anybody say “Affordable Care Act?” In this case, Schumer has introduced a bill which has the support of most Democrats and some Republicans, to exempt a “covered journalist” from subpoenas that would expose their confidential sources. The stated purpose of the bill is to protect freedom of the press. In reality, it protects government from the press.

 

This great idea Schumer has stems from all the spying on reporters by the Justice Department and all the other agencies that are collecting your pictures and phone number. Schumer wants reporters to be protected from having to give up their confidential sources or be intimidated by the legal system. These were protections that the Constitution has guaranteed for years. Judges from time to time have held reporters in contempt of court for not exposing their sources, but usually in the end, the reporters win. Its called freedom of the press. It’s guaranteed by the Constitution’s First Amendment. But Schumer wants to change all that with a bill disguised as a defender of free speech.

 

Schumer establishes two classes of journalists–covered and non-covered. You are a covered journalist if on the date of the passage of the bill you are or were “an employee, independent contractor, or agent of an entity or service that disseminates news or information…” You could be an independent investigative journalist who is looking into government wrongdoing and since you are not employed by a “legitimate” news service, your ability to report is infringed. For example, the Senate does not consider Focus on the Family’s Family News In Focus a legitimate news entity and will not issue it press credentials, although it covers news from a Christian worldview. This bill places the government in control of determining who is “covered.”

 

This has tremendous implications to all citizens because if the government can determine who is a legitimate journalist, it has penetrated the protections of the First Amendment. The same argument may be used to determine legitimate religion and legitimate people with the right of free assembly. The Supreme Court is hearing such a case now with Hobby Lobby regarding religious freedom from government mandates that infringe on religious beliefs. The communist argument stems from corporations (which are a registered government entity) are amoral and therefore must comply. These people are twisting words and meanings to undermine your liberty. As Christ said in Matthew 24:4, “Take heed that no man deceive you.”