Crowd-funded speech
Professor Noelie Rodriquez’s March 20 letter to the editor makes a number of emotional, but false, claims about corporations and political donations, in general, and the NRA, specifically.
She claims the Citizens United ruling allows corporations to give unlimited contributions to politicians.
Here’s what is true.
Individuals who want to support a particular policy or promote a certain governing philosophy can join other individuals to pool their money to support their cause. This allows them to amplify their speech because the pooled money allows them to buy media and gain greater attention for their cause. In terms millennials will understand, it’s the crowdfunding of political speech, a right enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
Public organizations are the only effective way for most individual members of the public to amplify their effect on public policy. Donors to the Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, Friends of the Earth, the National Rifle Association and many other nonprofits understand this and use it to great effect.
Neither standing on a soapbox at Kalakaua Park nor writing letters to the editor have as significant an impact on public perception or government policy as a well-funded publicity/advertising campaign funded by hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of individual donors.
Tax law, in turn, dictates that, in order for these crowdfunded organizations to not have to pay income tax on all donations, they must become nonprofit corporations.
Hence, the evil “corporation” moniker that gets applied by those such as Rodriguez who would prefer their policies prevail with as little competition as possible.
As for Rodriguez’s claim that “corporations … give unlimited contributions to politicians,” federal and state campaign finance laws ban all direct corporate and union contributions to candidates for political office. Issue advocacy campaigns can receive corporate donations, in order for those groups to advocate against bad public policy or promote good public policy.
There are more than 5 million people just like me, and it is that collective voice that those who would violate our rights fear the most — those millions of voices joined together as the National Rifle Association of America.
James O’Keefe
Hilo
YAHWEH’S MINISTRY, LINCOLN PARK, HILO, HAWAII
Mr. James O’Keefe, thank you for an excellent letter.
Very good adaptation of conservative republican narrative talking points.
Too bad it’s meaningless in reality.
As for what and who is an evil corporation just look at the NRA and it’s support for a fake doctored video of one of the Parkland survivor ripping up the constitution when the real video shows her ripping up a target used for target practice.
Also one just needs to listen to the bitch spikeswoman of the NRA to be able to see and hear bullshit but also a person so willing to seek their soul to the highest bidder.
YAHWEH’S MINISTRY, LINCOLN PARK, HILO, HAWAII
We need to armed security in our public schools to stop children from being murdered and we need to stop abortions at the Hilo Community Surgery Center to stop tiny children from being murdered.
Pregnant women who want to murder their own children can go to Honolulu to slaughter their own babies.
STOP MURDERING TINY HUMAN BEINGS IN HILO! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/93e24656f71b1d5229c5448b46725ce2c56acf4791a8a554a56d0a300551b8ec.jpg
the FBI is watching you, and so is God.
you will meet your true master one day.
YAHWEH’S MINISTRY, LINCOLN PARK, HILO, HAWAII
THESE WILL NEVER BE NEGOTIABLE.!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d21f05d069f237064b61c2bd3ff7a33f8f0c551384f159dc9226fdd0cf5961cc.jpg
“Put your sword away! for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”
YAHWEH’S MINISTRY, LINCOLN PARK, HILO, HAWAII
RACISM IS EVIL! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cb91bbe9f73a31f47fefbbe61332c6f29937c239a186147f590a139d49512463.jpg
hell exists, you do not believe it, but it is so.
and hell is full of surprised people.
James O’Keefe,
ISIS is jealous.
ISIS kills 0 Americans every year.
YAHWEH’S MINISTRY, LINCOLN PARK, HILO, HAWAII https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/674eee7e80d93d53982ff3b9b81fca557af8aa7c989055ea801b093786b544e4.jpg