I was at the Heritage Foundation yesterday for their weekly blogger conference call/meeting. One of the topics of discussion was the Fairness Doctrine and the Democrats' desire to reinstate it in order to restrict speech that does not comply with their world view. Democrats argue that the Fairness Doctrine will help provide balance in the political debate. The only problem with this assertion – the Fairness Doctrine has already proven to do the exact opposite. For over 30 years, the Fairness Doctrine restricted free speech as broadcasters continually avoided controversial and political topics for fear of government retribution.

In addition to failing to achieve its stated purpose, the Fairness Doctrine is a relic of bygone era. TechRepublican.com is intended to help the GOP improve its footprint in the online realm, and is therefore a prime example of the new mediums of communications and conduits of information that further relegate the Fairness Doctrine to the trash bin of history.

Democrats attempted to compete in the free market of talk radio and failed with Air America and now we are stuck with failed radio host and comedian Al Franken running for Senate.

Unfortunately, most Americans are unaware of the realities surrounding the Fairness Doctrine. After all, how could you be against something that supposedly mandates fairness in broadcasting? It is for this reason that the NRSC has launched an online petition and Web site at www.StopLiberalCensorship.com. I encourage everyone who reads this post to check out the site, sign the petition, and forward it on to friends and colleagues so we can let Democrats know they cannot silence dissident political views.

Open and honest political debate is at the core of our American identity and necessary for democracy to fully function. Democrats, led by the likes of Sens. Durbin and Kerry, are angling to undermine this right in order to save themselves and their party the public scrutiny which will further highlight their increasingly out-of-touch, liberal agenda. We must stop them and we must stand up for the First Amendment.

With Democrats continuing to be a party bereft of ideas they are trying to undercut the free market and must be stopped. I wanted to alert everyone to the NRSC’s newest Web site www.StopLiberalCensorship.com. There you can read about America’s opposition to the so-called Fairness Doctrine, including articles, editorials and op-eds and please take a minute to sign our online petition calling on Democrats to stop trying to stifle political debate.

I wanted to start by introducing myself to those of you I have not yet met. I am the ePress Secretary for the NRSC, which as most of you know has placed a much greater emphasis on reaching out to and integrating the Internet into our full campaign strategy.

I am planning on using this space to keep everyone updated and informed on our activities, including videos and new sites.

For starters, please check out our YouTube page: www.youtube.com/thenrsc which includes all of the videos we have produced to date.

Additionally, we recently launched a new site highlighting and quantifying the cost to each American (broken down by state) of a Democrat-led Congress: Cost of Democrats.

Please share this site with others, and if interested please blog roll on other sites, as it is incredibly important that people are well aware of the consequences they face when pulling the Democrat lever on Election Day.

Our efforts are already beginning to show results as Sen. Landrieu has been forced to address allegations of funneling federal dollars away from Louisiana and to NYC. In this instance Landrieu requested an earmark for a foundation in NYC that is supposed to set up an outpost in Louisiana. But the Dead Pelican blog exposed this and has forced Landrieu to release the earmark request and address these allegations on local TV. To read more check out Dead Pelican (currently in the middle column).

The stakes have never been higher as we work to take back Congress from the liberal left and keep the Presidency.

I look forward to working with all of you.