Opinion Elizabeth Warren proposes taxing First Amendment rights - "First amendment rights" in this article means lobbying, by the way

Elizabeth Warren proposes taxing First Amendment rights

If you like the idea of taxing the exercising of First Amendment rights, well, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren now has a plan for that.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

If you like the idea of taxing the exercising of First Amendment rights, well, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren now has a plan for that.

Warren on Wednesday unveiled a plan she claimed would end excessive lobbying by imposing a tax on companies' lobbying expenditures. The way the tax would work is that "companies that spend between $500,000 and $1 million per year on lobbying, calculated on a quarterly basis, will pay a 35% tax on those expenditures. For every dollar above $1 million spent on lobbying, the rate will increase to 60% – and for every dollar above $5 million, it will increase to 75%."

The problem with the proposal is that it runs smack up against the First Amendment, which states that, "Congress shall make no law ... abridging ... the right of the people ... to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Given that businesses have the constitutional right to lobby, Congress cannot pass a law explicitly aimed at curbing their ability to exercise that right by way of a punitive tax.

If that were the case, a federal government frustrated with media coverage could levy special taxes on publishing or could crack down on protesters by imposing a punitive tax on protesting.

As lawyer Ted Frank put it, "There’s a legal reason Republicans haven’t tried to curb abortion by taxing it, and it’s not just because they don’t like taxes."

This proposal is just your regular reminder that Warren is a policy fraud. She churns out proposals that generate oohs and aahs from the media, yet they barely stand up to the most basic scrutiny. The crowning achievement of her career — the establishment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — itself was ruled structurally unconstitutional in federal court.

Curbing lobbying is a worthy goal. But the way to curb lobbying is to shrink the power of the federal government over the economy, so that changes to taxes, spending, and regulations in Washington do not have such a dramatic influence on the fortunes of corporations.

 

[SmileyTimeDayCare]

And...Warren just made herself un-electible.

Do these morons not understand that they have maximized their perecentage of the vote by going as far left as they have already?

She's not winning votes with this shit. The nuts who think the NRA fixed the election are already voting for Heart Attack Bernie, Bleedy-Eye Joe, or Fauxahauntsus.

 

[Damn Near]

She should sincerely neck herself

 

[MyCatIsFarty]

She should sincerely neck herself

No, she should keep talking and running for office. The person next in line might actually be electable.

 

[Manwithn0n0men]

And...Warren just made herself un-electible.

Do these morons not understand that they have maximized their perecentage of the vote by going as far left as they have already?

She's not winning votes with this shit. The nuts who think the NRA fixed the election are already voting for Heart Attack Bernie, Bleedy-Eye Joe, or Fauxahauntsus.

Also...you dont TAX it....you change how its DEDUCTED [which isnt punative]

 

[Arctic Fox]

Curbing lobbying is a worthy goal. But the way to curb lobbying is to shrink the power of the federal government over the economy, so that changes to taxes, spending, and regulations in Washington do not have such a dramatic influence on the fortunes of corporations.

Warren's idea is dumb, but this is pants on head retarded.
No, giving corporate juggernauts more freedom to operate as they please is not a good idea, Jesus Christ.

 

[Damn Near]

The person next in line might actually be electable.

fat fucking chance

 

[Ruin]

Does anyone else think this seems like DNC/Clinton plot? Bernie, Biden, and Warren aka the three Democratic frontrunners going down in one week seems like one hell of a coincidence.

 

[thismanlies]

It’ll be interesting to see how Warren runs her campaign with this kind of a stance. Will she donate 35% of every camping contribution from a Fortune 500 company? Will Hillary start whispering in her ear about keeping public and private beliefs? Will grass roots donations be enough for her to tour the country and make speeches?

 

[The Pink Panther]

It sounded good....until she said that the rate would increase everytime you spend more and more....and then you ask WHY would companies spend that much on lobbying.


And then you ask why the government wants money from this companies. What are they trying to hide from us that needs to be paid off?

 

[Feline Supremacist]

Does anyone else think this seems like DNC/Clinton plot? Bernie, Biden, and Warren aka the three Democratic frontrunners going down in one week seems like one hell of a coincidence.

Oh Good Lord I sure hope so politics has never been so lulzy

 

[LordofTendons]

This needs a poll option for "fuck everyone, especially that milktoast cunt Elizabeth Warren."

 

[Ruin]

@Judge Holden we need your dancing Warren gif here.

 

[Kamov Ka-52]

Hot take: This is a shit idea because lobbyists are essential to the American political process and they dindu nuthin wrong. It is impossible for elected officials and their staff to be experts in on the massive swathe of policy issues they will need to make informed decisions on, and lobbyists are key to helping to fill in knowledge gaps on extremely important but obscure and/or exceedingly complex policy matters.

 

[MediocreMilt]

Somehow I doubt any lobbyist from the SPLC (or anyone else supporting things Warren likes) would be hit with this tax.

 

[X Prime]

Weren't multiple bills practically written by lobbyists?

 

[Manwithn0n0men]

Hot take: This is a shit idea because lobbyists are essential to the American political process and they dindu nuthin wrong. It is impossible for elected officials and their staff to be experts in on the massive swathe of policy issues they will need to make informed decisions on, and lobbyists are key to helping to fill in knowledge gaps on extremely important but obscure and/or exceedingly complex policy matters.

this isnt even the most important think Lobbyists due

>Be federal commission
"Hey, we are going to make a new rule about X policy"
>Lobbyists speak on behalf of their stake holders who are effected by X policy

Not only is it inhibiting FREE SPEECH its also interfering in and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

 

[L50LasPak]

A taxation on lobbying would eliminate the national debt in three days but by its very definition is impossible to implement.

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

I personally apologize for the stupidity of my state.

 

[Judge Holden]

@Judge Holden we need your dancing Warren gif here.

Warren went on to declare that under her plan, any lobbyist who failed to pay the necessary buckskins and beads would be subject to the wrath of the cherokee ancestors by way of the sacred apache ghost dance. She then proceeded to jump upon a table, place the war feathers of the sioux tribe upon her brow, bellow forth a fearsome navajo warcry, and demonstrate her terrifying tribal ritual passed down for thousands of years by the Iroquois peoples.

A Warren Campaign staffer later revealed in an anonymous email to the Washington Examiner that the candidate had been on the firewater for over two weeks in celebration of buying her third house teepee