Worse Than the Alien and Sedition Acts
Andy makes a good point about how Republicans might as well skip 527 "reform" and instead reauthorize the Alien and Sedition Acts. Actually, that would be the logical conclusion. However, this 527 bill is arguably worse than the Alien and Sedition acts as those only banned "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" about the government. So truthful writings were not at all limited or regulated. And the donations backing truthful writings were not limited and did not need to be disclosed to those in power. On the other hand, this bill would ban all writing by groups of individuals, even truthful writing, unless you first file with the government and accept small contributions which must be disclosed to those in power.
