What Being An American Means To Me

I am not given to setting out pronouncements like this very often, but in light of the last several years I thought it might be worthwhile to do so on the occasion of the 236th anniversary of our declared independence. I don’t think in terms of demonstrating my love of country. My affection for my home is simply a given, a background hum, a constant, foundational reality that is reflexively true. This is the house in which I grew up. I know its walls, its ceiling, its floors, the steps to the attic, the verge, and every shadow that moves with the sun through all the windows. I live here; its existence contours my thinking, is the starting place of my feelings. The house itself is an old friend, a reliable companion, a welcoming space, both mental and physical, that I can no more dislike or reject than I can stop breathing. But some of the furniture...that’s different. I am an American. I don’t have to prove that to anyone. I carry it with me, inside, my cells are suffused with it. I do not have to wear a flag on my lapel, hang one in front of my house, or publicly pledge an oath to it for the convenience of those who question my political sentiments. Anyone who says I should or ought or have to does not understand the nature of what they request or the substance of my refusal to accommodate them. They do not understand that public affirmations like that become a fetish and serve only to divide, to make people pass a test they should—because we are free—never have to take. [More . . . ]

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Consider signing the Declaration of Internet Freedom

Today I signed this clearly worded Declaration of Internet Freedom.

We stand for a free and open Internet. We support transparent and participatory processes for making Internet policy and the establishment of five basic principles: Expression: Don't censor the Internet. Access: Promote universal access to fast and affordable networks. Openness: Keep the Internet an open network where everyone is free to connect, communicate, write, read, watch, speak, listen, learn, create and innovate. Innovation: Protect the freedom to innovate and create without permission. Don’t block new technologies, and don’t punish innovators for their users' actions. Privacy: Protect privacy and defend everyone’s ability to control how their data and devices are used.
I invite you to join me in signing this Declaration. The sponsoring organization, Free Press, has long been on the right side of media/Internet/speech issues. This one-page declaration captures what is critically important about net neutrality.

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A criminal act by Congress: cutting the budget for Legal Services

Last week I attended the annual seminar my law firm (the Simon Law Firm) puts on for the benefit of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. We've done this for almost ten years, and I'm proud to be part of a firm that has raised a total of more than $100,000 for the St. Louis office of Legal Services. What does Legal Services do for the folks it serves? The lawyers of Legal Services provide "high-quality legal assistance and equal access to justice to low-income people." Consider this:

Our lawyers provide counsel, advice and representation to clients in a variety of domestic cases including orders of protection, dissolution of marriage, modifications, paternity establishments and child custody cases. Other legal needs are addressed as well, sometimes by bringing the expertise of lawyers in other specialty practice areas like public benefits, housing or consumer.

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Fighting loan sharks at the Missouri Supreme Court

More than 180,000 Missouri Citizens signed petitions to allow Missourians to vote to put a cap (of 36%) on payday loans and other small consumer loans this coming November. Here is some background information on the ballot initiative. But then the predatory loan industry lawyered up, bringing multiple suits to throw out all of the signatures in an attempt to destroy this ballot initiative. Today, John Campbell and I traveled to Jefferson City to participate in an afternoon of oral arguments before the packed courtroom of the Missouri Supreme Court. John and I (we both work with The Simon Law Firm in St. Louis) also helped to write an appellate brief on behalf of those who seek to allow Missouri voters to decide this critically important issue this November. There was lively argument before an attentive court on numerous contentious issues drummed up by the predatory loan industry. We expect a ruling from the Missouri Supreme Court within the next month on this issue. It is our hope that the Court will rule that Missouri citizens will have the final say on whether loans that currently run from 300% - 500% will be capped at no more than 36%. This is critically important because these loans are currently dangerous products that trap consumers in long-term debt, and drive many people into foreclosures and bankruptcy. For many decades, Missouri did fine without loan-shark rate interest rates, and it's time to make things right. Stay tuned. If you want more detail, all of the appellate briefs can be read at the site of the Missouri Supreme Court.

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The Chamber of Commerce is perfect before the U.S. Supreme Court

The Chamber of Commerce can do no wrong before the United States Supreme Court this term, as reported by the Constitutional Accountability Center:

With today’s decision in Southern Union Company v. United States, the Chamber has declared victory in all seven of its cases that have reached a clear outcome (two are additionally classified as “other” because the Court avoided addressing the issue at stake on procedural grounds, and in one the Chamber filed on behalf of neither party).

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