{"id":6365,"date":"2016-09-08T06:00:23","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T10:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/blog\/?p=6365"},"modified":"2019-03-15T12:43:02","modified_gmt":"2019-03-15T16:43:02","slug":"469-controlling-political-speech-progressive-consistency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/archives\/6365","title":{"rendered":"469 &#8211; Controlling political speech \/ Progressive consistency"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_7427\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-6365-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/BROADCASTS\/20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/BROADCASTS\/20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3\">\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/BROADCASTS\/20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/BROADCASTS\/20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/?powerpress_pinw=6365-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/BROADCASTS\/20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3\">Download<\/a> (Duration: 59:41 &#8212; 68.5MB) | <a href=\"#\" class=\"powerpress_link_e\" title=\"Embed\" onclick=\"return powerpress_show_embed('6365-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Embed<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_embed_box\" id=\"powerpress_embed_6365-podcast\" style=\"display: none;\"><input id=\"powerpress_embed_6365-podcast_t\" type=\"text\" value=\"&lt;iframe width=&quot;320&quot; height=&quot;30&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/?powerpress_embed=6365-podcast&amp;amp;powerpress_player=mediaelement-audio&quot; title=&quot;Blubrry Podcast Player&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;\" onclick=\"javascript: this.select();\" onfocus=\"javascript: this.select();\" style=\"width: 70%;\" readOnly><\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-6366\" src=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/469-Kathleen-Wynne-as-Devil-168x100.jpg\" alt=\"Kathleen Wynne as Devil\" width=\"168\" height=\"100\" \/><\/p>\n<p>DEVILI$H FUNDING: &#8220;I&#8217;m the detail,&#8221; said the devil, who always liked to Wynne.<br \/>\nThat &#8220;detail&#8221; fairly sums up the real story behind all the fuss about political party financing in Ontario.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The devil is in the details,&#8221; and <strong>Ontario&#8217;s Bill 201<\/strong> (Election Finances Statute Law Amendment Act, 2016), introduced by Ontario premier <strong>Kathleen Wynne<\/strong>&#8216;s Liberal government to combat &#8220;<strong>political corruption<\/strong>&#8221; through financial &#8220;<strong>transparency<\/strong>&#8220;, certainly confirms it.<\/p>\n<p>Bill 201, ostensibly about &#8220;election&#8221; finance reform, is also about something else entirely. It contains a host of devilish details that no one in the mainstream media has brought to anyone&#8217;s attention.<\/p>\n<p>Far from offering any meaningful transparency to combat the corruption in her own government, the Liberal bill broadens the Ontario government&#8217;s power and jurisdiction to an alarming degree.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The state will be able to control and regulate not just the electoral process and rules, but all political debate and expression &#8211; by anyone &#8211; even outside of election periods and when there are no electoral contests.<\/strong><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>How is this to be accomplished? Through Bill 201, Kathleen Wynne&#8217;s devilish Liberal Party funding scheme, ironically hidden within the very bill advocating &#8220;transparency.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Under Bill 201, any &#8220;political&#8221; opinion expressed by any individual, group, or association in Ontario will be regulated and controlled<\/strong>, if that opinion is expressed through any kind of paid medium (i.e., advertising).<\/p>\n<p>Who decides what&#8217;s &#8220;political&#8221;? With the government involved in virtually every aspect of daily personal life, very few things are not. Even personal issues (like health care, now state-monopolized and rationed) and economic issues (like electricity prices &#8211; now state regulated) have been made political.<\/p>\n<p>To facilitate Bill 201&#8217;s regulation of &#8220;political&#8221; spending, simple justice would demand that the government provide an official list indicating which issues are or are not political, so that potential spending offenders could be warned in advance.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the proper paperwork and forms would have to be provided, with declarations made and receipts provided to ensure that a particular newspaper ad &#8211; deemed to be political &#8211; did not exceed the meager spending limit allowed. Even &#8220;political&#8221; advertisers who spend far less than the maximum would have to prove so, and fill out forms and provide receipts. (That&#8217;s exactly how Elections Ontario currently administers all those subject to its jurisdiction.)<\/p>\n<p>What will be the <strong>ultimate penalty<\/strong> for having spent &#8220;too much&#8221; on one&#8217;s political expression? What&#8217;s the real nature of the &#8220;crime&#8221; &#8211; that &#8220;too many&#8221; people may have heard or seen the message as a consequence of the cost of the advertising?<\/p>\n<p>While that may be the source of fear driving Bill 201, the real nature of the crime, of course, is criticizing the political parties in power.<\/p>\n<p>Under Bill 201, no longer will only registered political parties and candidates be subject to Elections Ontario&#8217;s regulatory rules. No longer will the rules be limited to conducting elections. <strong>&#8220;Election&#8221; rules will become &#8220;political&#8221; rules<\/strong>, and Elections Ontario will be given expanded jurisdiction over the political opinions, activities and interests of all politically engaged <strong>residents <\/strong>and <strong>groups <\/strong>in Ontario, not just political parties.<\/p>\n<p>As if that wasn&#8217;t alarming enough, Bill 201 severely restricts the voluntary financial support that private citizens may offer to political parties, parties that are private associations.<\/p>\n<p>By legally restricting their financial support, Wynne&#8217;s Liberals are using Bill 201 to punish parties that are funded without any tax dollars whatsoever (like the <strong>Freedom Party of Ontario<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p>Wynne&#8217;s Liberals are using Bill 201 to unashamedly award their own party (also a private association) with forced taxpayer-paid subsidies, offensively calling their stolen membership dues (without the membership) &#8220;allowances.&#8221; Naturally, as the other two recipients of the taxpayer loot, the Progressive Conservative and New Democratic parties, are in full agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Yet not one member of the mainstream media appears to comprehend what is really happening. Many even support these measures, believing them to be &#8220;democratic.&#8221; They have not seen the devilish details behind electoral funding, details that are offensively <strong>anti-democratic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Conveniently for Wynne&#8217;s Liberals, election finance reform is a pretty dull and technical subject, and few pay attention. That makes Bill 201 a perfect vehicle for the devil to remain hidden from view. It&#8217;s only when you can see the devil hiding in the details, that you realize it&#8217;s a hotter issue than it looks.<\/p>\n<p>As we all know, any &#8220;devil&#8221; in the details is really only a devil when kept in the shadows, hidden behind those details from direct view.<\/p>\n<p>By shining a light on the devilish details of Bill 201, everyone can see the devil for who she really is.<\/p>\n<p>And that&#8217;s Just Right by us.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/BROADCASTS\/20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3\"><\/a><a href=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/blog\/469-topics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/images\/buttons\/topics.gif\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/blog\/469-bonus-material\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/images\/buttons\/bonus_material.png\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/blog\/469-clips-credits\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/images\/buttons\/clips_and_credits.gif\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_7429\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-6365-3\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/BROADCASTS\/20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3?_=3\" \/><a href=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/BROADCASTS\/20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3\">\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/BROADCASTS\/20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/BROADCASTS\/20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/?powerpress_pinw=6365-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/BROADCASTS\/20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3\">Download<\/a> (Duration: 59:41 &#8212; 68.5MB) | <a href=\"#\" class=\"powerpress_link_e\" title=\"Embed\" onclick=\"return powerpress_show_embed('6365-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Embed<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_embed_box\" id=\"powerpress_embed_6365-podcast\" style=\"display: none;\"><input id=\"powerpress_embed_6365-podcast_t\" type=\"text\" value=\"&lt;iframe width=&quot;320&quot; height=&quot;30&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/?powerpress_embed=6365-podcast&amp;amp;powerpress_player=mediaelement-audio&quot; title=&quot;Blubrry Podcast Player&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;\" onclick=\"javascript: this.select();\" onfocus=\"javascript: this.select();\" style=\"width: 70%;\" readOnly><\/p><p>\/\/www.justrightmedia.org\/BROADCASTS\/20160908-justRIGHT-469-DevilishFUNding.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:41 &#8212; 68.5MB) | Embed DEVILI$H FUNDING: &#8220;I&#8217;m the detail,&#8221; said the devil, who always liked to Wynne. That &#8220;detail&#8221; fairly sums up the real story behind all the fuss about political party financing in Ontario. &#8220;The devil is in the details,&#8221; and Ontario&#8217;s Bill 201 (Election <a href='https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/archives\/6365' class='excerpt-more'>[Continue Reading]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,69,59,111,28,205,165,6,598,607],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-audio","category-economics","category-free-speech","category-governance","category-latest","category-law","category-political-parties","category-politics","category-society","category-taxes","issues-election-finance-reform-ontario","issues-freedom-party-of-ontario","issues-liberal-party-of-ontario","issues-political-parties","issues-progressive-conservative-party-of-ontario","personalities-kathleen-wynne","personalities-patrick-brown","category-12-id","category-69-id","category-59-id","category-111-id","category-28-id","category-205-id","category-165-id","category-6-id","category-598-id","category-607-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6365"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9895,"href":"https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6365\/revisions\/9895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justrightmedia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}