TPA & ATR Send Letter to FCC on Process Reform and Donor Disclosure

The power of federal agencies has been expanding in some very troubling and controversial ways over the last several years and Taxpayers Protection Alliance has been deeply concerned with this trend and the examples that should give taxpayers great pause can be seen with the continued scandal involving Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) targeting, and increasing regulatory power from the Environmental Agency (EPA). Recently, another agency has been looking to increase their power over the public and in this case it appears to be an attack on first amendment rights. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is undertaking certain attempts at process reform and while there is some merit to aspects of what they are looking to reform, there is major problem. Hidden in the reforms is an attempt to force any outside organization (like TPA) who decides to submit public comments on FCC policy to disclose their donors. Many groups on all sides feel troubled by such a move that smacks in the face of free speech, and in a joint effort, TPA and Americans for Tax Reform sent this letter, cosigned by American Commitment, American Conservative Union, American Legislative Exchange Council – Task Force on Communications and Technology, Americans for Job Security, Center for Freedom and Prosperity, Center for Individual Freedom, Citizens Against Government Waste, Citizen Outreach, Digital Liberty, Freedom Works, Frontiers of Freedom, Hispanic Leadership Fund, Illinois Policy Action, Institute for Liberty, Institute for Policy Innovation, Less Government, The Maine Heritage Policy Center, MediaFreedom.org, National Taxpayers Union, Public Interest Institute, R Street, Rio Grande Foundation, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, TheTeaparty.net, individually Kevin McLaughlin and Bruce Weber urging the the FCC to drop this piece of process reform. There have been attempts in the past by Congress to regulate political/policy speech, and we’ve seen the IRS target opponents based on ideology. This appears to be yet another attempt at silencing discourse amongst those who may feel compelled to voice their opposition regarding a change in public policy at the federal agency level. This is something that definitely does not fall under the heading of “reform” and should be halted immediately.

read the full letter below: 

March 31, 2014

Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary

Federal Communications Commission

445 12th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20554

RE: GN Docket No. 14-25

Dear Ms. Dortch,

Our organizations share and support the Federal Communications Commission’s goal of improving the agency to operate in the most effective, efficient and transparent way possible, as outlined in the February 14, 2014 staff working group led “Report on FCC Process Reform.” Process reforms that achieve these important goals and make the Commission more agile and business-like should be adopted and executed quickly. We commend the Commission for its work in identifying and proposing a series of process reforms to better serve the American people.

Many of the Commission’s recommendations will win broad – or near unanimous – support. However, the proposal to require organizations petitioning the Commission to provide donor lists and contribution amounts when submitting public comments on agency policymaking matters is extremely concerning to our organizations as it threatens to undermine and restrict First Amendment protections.

Public participation is the cornerstone of representative democracy. Those who seek to petition their government and engage decision makers should be free from unnecessary requirements that seek to divine their innermost motivations for having an opinion. This is why both the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act prohibit capricious barriers to freedom of expression.

The facts and opinions that participants present should be evaluated on their merit. Any divination of the motivations behind them should not be a factor in considering their worth. The very notion of judging the merit of citizens’ comments based on anything other than the argument at hand, is an ad hominem attack, which suggests that the government allows preexisting biases based on the sender of the message and not the message itself to influence its evaluation of public comments.

In addition, there is no indication in the record of a problem that exists in the current disclosure requirements. Nor is there an indication in the record of why more burdensome disclosure requirements are necessary. Creating more burdensome obstacles to submitting comments not only violates civil liberties by creating barriers to participation, it is also an invasion of privacy. Privacy should be protected not to disguise the origination of a message, but to shield commenters from unwarranted harassment.

Additional disclosure requirements will expose participants to harassment, ad hominem attacks, and other intimidation tactics. This is not speculation, the use of these types of tactics is well documented. For instance, in the case of lawsuits known as “SLAPP” suits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), are filed not to achieve a litigation outcome, but to silence opposition. With these glaring examples of attempts to silence opposition voices, it is clear that violating the privacy of organizations will lead to additional unwarranted attacks on free speech, which is vital to the democratic process.

In sum, we believe the Commission’s quest to seek the motivations of those who comment on its actions is misguided, and that the agency should focus its energy on consensus reforms and building credibility for its own internal processes, as the reform process originally set out to do.

Organizations:

American Commitment

American Conservative Union

American Legislative Exchange Council – Task Force on Communications and Technology

Americans for Job Security

Americans for Tax Reform

Center for Freedom and Prosperity

Center for Individual Freedom

Citizens Against Government Waste

Citizen Outreach

Digital Liberty

Freedom Works

Frontiers of Freedom

Hispanic Leadership Fund

Illinois Policy Action

Institute for Liberty

Institute for Policy Innovation

Less Government

The Maine Heritage Policy Center

MediaFreedom.org

National Taxpayers Union

Public Interest Institute

R Street

Rio Grande Foundation

Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council

Taxpayers Protection Alliance

TheTeaparty.net

Individuals:

Kevin McLaughlin

Bruce Weber