Secret Government?

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The proponents of Proposition 8 have now filed a lawsuit in Federal Court to change California's law requiring disclosure of campaign contributions.

Hmmm. Can't stand the heat? They want to discriminate in private, huh?
They don't like being fired as my dentist after 31 years?

They don't like their businesses being boycotted because the are bigots?

They don't like being held accountable for imposing their religious beliefs on others, a violation of the very principle upon which this country was settled by white people- or, as history tells us, stolen from the Native Americans?

Too bad. And remember, there is a $100 threshold- below that, no disclosure is required, so you have to be a pretty committed bigot, at that.

So, not only are these people bigots, they are cowards. That being said, I do not condone violence against people over their political beliefs, whether they are left or wrong.

Open government is critical, as we have seen over the last eight years, years that are unlike any eight before them- and hopefully any one after!

And remember, there is a $100 threshold- below that, no disclosure is required.

And what about my rights? Don't I have the right to know if my dentist is laundering my money into something I find abhorrent, like taking away the rights of gay people to get married, making black people sit in the back of the bus, keeping women barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen, or stealing land and property from Japanese-Americans and sending them to Internment Camps? I know, I know- at least there were no ovens, right?

That being said, there are parts of the campaign law that should be tossed out by the Courts.

First is the requirement that people's employer be identified. Employers should not be associated with the political views of their employees any more than employees should be presumed to agree with the views of their employers.

The phone number requirement should also be tossed. Knowing the complete name and address of a donor is sufficient to preserve democracy.

A layer of security would also be added. It does take effort, gas, and/or money to send something to somebody, or to go to their home and picket.

It takes no effort to pick up the phone and harass somebody or their employer, and in the case of folks who get charged for incoming calls, it would cost them money.

Complete name and address- period. Anything beyond is an invasion of privacy.

Keep the baby- toss the bathwater.