A Bad Day for Free Speech

I believe that the First Amendment to the US Constitution not only protects your right to say anything, no matter how despicable, it also should protect you from being forced to say something... Check out this article: Supreme Court Says Beef Producers Can Be Forced to Fork Over for Ads

Basically, the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of US Beef producers being forced to pay for the industry advertisements we see on television. I'm sure you remember the 'Beef: It's what's for dinner' ads. From the article: But dissenting justices said the majority ruling is flawed, in part because the beef marketing program tends to mask its government sponsorship. The tag line on beef program commercials and advertisements is "Funded by America's Beef Producers." (emphasis mine)

Justice David Souter in dissent said, "No one hearing a commercial for Pepsi or Levi's thinks Uncle Sam is the man talking behind the curtain. Why would a person reading a beef ad think Uncle Sam was trying to make him eat more steak?" Without accurate identification of the source of the speech, Souter said, the government is not accountable. Also dissenting were Justices John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns applauded the decision in a statement issued Monday. "This is certainly a win for the many producers who recognize the power of pooled resources. As this administration has always contended, USDA regards such programs, when properly administered, as effective tools for market enhancement." Johanns replaced Ann Veneman as the appellant in the case when he became agriculture secretary in January, so the decision is now known as Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Association.

Lawyers representing the dissenting ranchers criticized the ruling as a setback for free speech in the face of corporate interests. "The First Amendment protects the right to dissent as much as the right to speak," said Institute for Justice lawyer Steve Simpson in a statement. He filed a brief in the case on behalf of dairy farmers who object to the "Got Milk" milk promotion program. "Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has just made it a lot easier for government to compel support for the 'party line' in a particular industry, and drown out any dissent."

Pooled resources? Is that a fancy way of saying, "money extracted from taxpayers or industry participants at the point of a gun?" The next thing you know, we'll 'pool' our collective resources and come up with an organization that promotes, say, the arts. Arts that could be quite objectionable to most folks. See how you like your forced speech then. Oh wait, we already have an organization like that...