End all limits on political speech

A judge just upheld a law that Proposition 8 contributors must have their names revealed.

Like my good friend Art Pedroza, in a post of his, I used to back reporting on campaign spending . I think that’s still the position of the Orange County Register, where I wrote editorials for 19 years. (I never have supported limits on campaign spending.)

But I’ve changed my mind recently and now support ending all limits on political speech of any kind, including reporting contributions.

The First Amendment protects all speech concerning elections. So there should be no limits, no reporting requirements, no spending limits on speech concerning elections of persons or ballot measures.

If you don’t like how much money is being raised for one side, raise more money for your own side.

After all, newspapers have no limits on their speech. They even keep their editorial writers anonymous, so you don’t know who wrote their stuff. If they are privately held companies, you can’t examine their financial data.

And nowadays, anyone can start an anonymous blog, for free, and exercise unreported political speech.

All spending limits and reporting requirements have done is make the system so complex and expensive that only rich folks and professional consultants can participate.

If we got rid of all limits on campaign speech, wouldn’t special interests “buy” an election by spending a lot?

They do it anyway. Remember Schwarzenegger’s $550 million-a-year “midnight basketball” initiative in 2002, Prop. 49, in which he financed a self-promoting waste program to give himself campaign experience before his 2003 gubernatorial run? Dumb voters passed it, and it’s now adding to the deficit.

Same thing with the stem-cell initiative (from aborted children), Prop. 71 in 2004, $6 billion that now is added to the deficit. Rich biotech companies and investors funded it. Even dumber voters passed it.

The only way to give us Jose Sixpacks even a small chance agains the rich robbers is to lift all limits on free speech for elections.

Free speech is free speech. No limits.