Chuck Grassley is for sale. Which means so are you. That’s right. Your rights, your constitutional freedoms, your livelihood, health, and prosperity are not your own. With a career politician like Grassley, they’ve been sold for a long time. And you want to know who’s buying them?
That would be big tech and big government. We recently did an informative piece about Grassley’s votes on healthcare serving his major donor, Blue Cross Blue Shield, to the detriment of working Americans and fixed-income seniors. Much of my campaign is centered around medical freedom- you can learn how Chuck Grassley’s voting record literally paved the way for the medical tyranny Americans have faced over the past two years Here.
But for now, let’s talk about who else Grassley’s votes have served, this time at the expense of one of your most sacred and fundamental rights in America: free speech.
Grassley & Other Prominent Senate Democrats Are in the Pockets of Big Tech
Grassley’s top 20 donors in 2020 include big tech companies such as Google, Verizon, Blackstone, American Broadcasters Association, Comcast, and more. His donor list contains crossovers with other high profile Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, and Jacky Rosen, among others. In short: Grassley and the very Democrats who were trampling on your rights throughout the pandemic were beholden to many of the same major companies.
Grassley was in the pockets of big tech throughout 2020- That’s right, the year of the pandemic, the lockdowns, the propaganda, and the total war on free speech and freedom of information.
Grassley started off the year with voting to certify Joe Biden as the President of the United States despite the irregularities and security concerns of the dominion voting machines. He went on to stand back while Americans were oppressed by the medical tyranny which his very own votes had caused. While Americans clawed for their right to breathe without a mask, travel without a vaccine, leave their homes, attend school, keep their businesses open, and exercise their religious convictions without interference from government, Grassley sat back and watched the policies he had voted for in action.
One of those policies is Article 230, part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, S.652. Section 230 is a federal law that protects internet service providers and website companies from being held liable for most content created by users of their services, including content that could be considered false or defamatory. This is the provision that allows social media platforms to edit, delete, or ban social media content while being immune from lawsuits. Chuck Grassley voted YEA.
Then came 2020, with its mainstream media propaganda force fed to the world around every turn, and the censorship and silencing of anyone who dared to say otherwise. The media was one big propaganda outlet, but unfortunately, we expect that. Big tech, who would eventually deplatform and silence the leader of the free world during the election, wielded their unchecked power (power Grassley’s votes had given them) on the American people.
The War on Free Speech
We all remember what happened. Doctors, nurses, teachers, politicians, and anyone who dared to suggest an alternative narrative were silenced, discredited, and ostracized.
Information that countered any narrative other than what the mainstream media was telling people to believe was erased. Links and videos vanished from social media feeds. Posts were taken down for going against “community guidelines”, and how could we ever forget the infamous “fact checks” in red, which came from questionable third party sources and rarely even addressed the issue they were “fact checking” directly.
People were silenced, therefore, an entire way of thinking was silenced. An entire narrative that could have swayed the cultural attitude when we needed it most was suppressed. And the only narrative to have representation was the one big tech and big government would allow. Is that a representative government, of the people, by the people, and for the people? No. That is corporate control over a group of people. People who are supposed to be free, but were instead being censored, silenced, and oppressed.
And let’s not forget the cultural narrative that was allowed to take root and flourish had tragic consequences for Americans and the world. A rise in suicide, domestic abuse, substance abuse, preventable cancer deaths, hunger, the list goes on, all came as a result of the measures that mainstream media and big tech were pushing for, and that politicians voted for, to the detriment of so many lives.
Grassley Chose Not to Fight for Your Free Speech
Then came the option to fix it. To change the errors of the past that created the war being waged on free thought and free speech. H.R.6395, a bill to authorize FY2021 appropriations and set forth policies for the Department of Defense (DOD) and other programs and activities. In order to address the war on free speech, Trump said he would not pass this bill unless it included section 230 reforms. These reforms could have actually held big tech accountable for the accounts they had shut down, the people they had deleted and banned from their platforms, the posts they had discredited and fact checked, and the narrative they had censored and silenced.
But Grassley voted to pass the bill- without section 230 reforms. He voted to pass the bill without the very part that would have protected your freedom of speech. President Trump even threatened to veto the bill without the 230 reforms, which he did. The house then voted to override his veto, bringing the bill back to the Senate, and once again, giving Grassley an opportunity to fight for your freedom to think, speak, and express yourself without hindrance- but he didn’t. Grassley voted to override the veto, and once again, to pass the bill without the section 230 reforms. This was one of Grassley’s votes which awardedG him an F on the Conservative review Liberty Scorecard rating. You can see his vote Here.
The bill then became law. Americans continued to be silenced. Mandates were enforced. And his own constituents paid the price with the erosion of their liberties.
Election Year Grassley vs Non-election Year Grassley
In regards to this bill, several of Chuck Grassley’s colleagues did stand up and fight for your freedoms, such as Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Tom Cotton, among others. Chuck Grassley chose not to. Maybe he genuinely does support 230, however, according to a February 2022 article in The Gazette, Grassley addresses the very issue of big tech censorship and the problem of section 230, saying:
“These Big Tech companies have few competitors and are immune from liability. These companies are unaccountable to their customers, the courts and the government. If not for their monopoly power and Section 230 immunity, these companies might not be involved in the actions and censorship we see today.”
Then why did he vote to create section 2030 immunity to begin with?
Grassley goes on to say:
“It’s time that we examine the Section 230 immunity that has enabled these companies to avoid any liability. We must stop these companies from arbitrarily deciding what speech is acceptable for the country.”
Then why didn’t he stop these companies when he had the chance? What changed Senator Grassley? You had a primary opponent. That’s what changed.
It’s a classic case of election year Grassley verses non-election year Grassley. Big tech gave Grassley money, and he gave them his votes, selling the free speech of his constituents in the process. And while he sat back and continued to vote in line with the big tech donors that he serves, he lied to the American people, hoping he can pull the wool over their eyes for just one more election.
Chuck Grassley’s voting record proves that he is no conservative. And I wish he was, because then I wouldn’t need to run against him. But as Steve Deace of the Conservative Review said when he endorsed me: “We have a civilization to save.” And that’s what this campaign is all about. “Grassley has had six decades to put a stop to this evil, and instead has too often enabled it. We don’t have any more time as a culture to feed his ego and fulfill his family tree. We have a civilization to save, which is why I’m endorsing Jim Carlin to hopefully help us save it.” Deace wrote.
Conclusion
It’s time for Americans to tell the political elite that our life, our rights, and the freedom of our children is not for sale. The time of being victims to career politicians, big government, and big tech can be over. The time for We the People to stand up, and reclaim our control in the political process is now. There isn’t another time. It will be too late. It already has gone unchecked for far too long, and we know the left is not slowing down or taking a break.
Grassley has voted with Biden’s agenda 54% of the time. He has an F rating from the Conservative Review. He is not one of us. He has proven that he will not protect your freedoms. Stand up to tyranny. There is too much at stake. Tell Grassley that your freedoms and your children’s freedoms are not for sale. Vote Jim Carlin in the Republican Primary, June 7th, 2022.
