If You Want to See a Real Filibuster, Come to Alabama

The Alabama Senate has been locked up in a filibuster for a month now over a bill "to provide that paid political advertisement made by or paid for by an organization or entity, other than a principal campaign committee, shall disclose the names of the source of the funding of the organization or entity..." (See the Alabama Legislative Information Service Online...the bill is HB75.)

The bill is aimed at non-profit organizations that engage in issue advocacy. It states that "while the Legislature recognizes the right to free speech, the Legislature believes that Alabama voters have a right to know who pays for the costs of political issue advocacy advertisements."

The Alabama Constitution states "that no law shall ever be passed to curtail or restrain the liberty of speech or of the press; and any person may speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty."

Apparently, a majority of Alabama legislators don't understand that the right to speak anonymously is fundamental to the freedom of speech protected by the Alabama Constitution.

Could they have forgotten that the most important issue advocacy ad in American history - the Federalist Papers - appeared in New York newspapers under a pseudonym? Would the supporters of this bill have forced Madison, Jay, and Hamilton to disclose their "sources of funding?"

This bill is plainly unconstitutional, and is nothing more than an attempt to protect incumbents and stifle dissent. Republicans in the legislature are right to use all means at their disposal to kill it - including the filibuster - even if that means that consideration of all other bills, including the budgets, have to be postponed to a special session later in the year.