Edit: I posted in /r/Politics to get a broader coalition here. Hopefully it won't be lost in the constant barrage of posts.

It seems as if much of Reddit would be quite happy to see Lamar Smith, US congressman from Texas district 21, not re-elected to office for another term. I concur. However due to really lax policies towards gerrymandering Lamar Smith has one of the safest seats in Texas. Defeating him with a Democratic challenger wouldn't likely be an avenue of success. The best way to deliver his pink slip would be through the auspices of the Republican primary system.

Sheriff Mack

Indeed, Lamar smith has a challenger for his republican spot and I think Reddit will be quite pleased with who it is. I can't imagine anyone more perfectly Texan than an actual, gun-toting sheriff. He sees himself as a no-nonsense, fiscal conservative with a libertarian streak. He endorsed Ron Paul for the presidency and actively speaks out against SOPA and PIPA on his website. Knowing the motivation as well as generous pockets of Ron Paul supporters it would be great to have their help backing this candidate. As well, he personally owns several firearms and is sure to please many second amendment enthusiasts, which I'm told are very plentiful in Texas.

So let me lay out a scenario, and you can upvote or downvote, tell me why you think it's impossible, or a great idea, or just post a funny one-liner. It's all appreciated.

Using the nation-wide (and international) Reddit community as a jumping-off point, we can throw our collective weight behind this candidate and register enough new voters or change enough current voters' minds to defeat Lamar smith at the polls this April 3. Let's take a look at the facts. Against a Democrat, Smith gets 68.9% of the vote. Against the Libertarian challenger, he got 80%. The question is: could we oust Lamar Smith using the primary process in the Republican Party? This all depends on our ground game between now and then. Also, if you read about the 2006 election in the district, it shows that the district boundaries themselves might be an unknown quantity. This could throw a wrench into our campaign but I have a feeling that any controversy about the district will only help our cause and damage Lamar Smith.

I'm not from Texas. However, I'm sure there are many Redditors in Texas. If anyone from Austin or San Antonio happen to be reading this thread, all I would ask is that you post here if you're willing to entertain the idea of volunteering some of your time towards this end. If we have enough people on the ground in District 21 then we can network together and co-ordinate on a national level to win this campaign. Focusing the collective efforts and donations from 50 states onto onto one district like a Newt Gingrich moon-laser beam, we could cause an electoral upset and send Lamar Smith to explore new employment options.

So that's about it. You know the score now, it's up to you what to do next. Personally I have no skin in the game - I'm not even from the United States, let alone Texas. I know that if I was, though, I'd probably be opening my chequebook or stuffing an envelope with some money and sending it to Sheriff Mack.

Oh, one last thing: Inside Lamar Smith's district is the University of Texas at Austin. I suggest we make this the base of operations for running the campaign. There's no doubt in my mind that Redditors that don't like Lamar smith exist there, and I'm sure no-one else would be more motivated than people that live in his very district.

Note: In order to vote in Texas you must be registered 30 days before the primary, that is to say, by March 3. We need to register thousands of voters. Also, we need to get started yesterday.

Dear Folks, the Internet is under attack big time. SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, Twitter just announced it will start censoring tweeds on a country by country basis,in Ireland SOPA like legislature is being discussed. In UK they hold secret meetings to force searchengines to delist or downrank results of 'infringing' sites and so on and so on.

Fighting all these is like playing a game of Whak-A-Mole. If we try, we will win some and lose some, but new threats spring up to be fought again.

I say its time to change tactics. The MPAA knows very well how to play the game when demanding legeslation: Aim ridiculously high, when opposition builds up, negotiate, sacrifice some of your over the top demands. Force your opponents to sacrifice some of theirs. Voila you didn't get exactly what you wanted but you moved in the desired direction.

So lets aim high. What I propose is not aimed at just defeating ACTA but at freeing the Net. Therefor I call upon the reddit community to create FIA or better known as the 'Free Internet Act' (just my suggestion for a name) and to demand to congress to pass it by mobilizing the Public. I suggest to outlaw without exceptions any form of censorship, third party liability and surveillance on the net. I suggest retroactively invalidating all laws and Treaties that contradict with FIA. And I suggest writing Net Neutrality into FIA as well. Maybe we wont get all of it (this time) but even half of it would be a triumph.

All of the above are just ideas and I invite the whole community to elaborate on them. What do you think?

P.S.: If you want to discuss this idea I started Its own dedicated threat here: http://www.reddit.com/r/ACTA/comments/p0zn2/the_free_internet_act_a_bold_plan_to_save_the/

Test PAC is about $700 away from hitting our goal of $3,844 to put up an anti-Lamar Smith billboard in San Antonio. If we can raise the $700 needed, we will match it with $800 from our general fund to hit $4,500, and upgrade to the best located billboard available.

Here is the donation page, if you’d like to contribute:

https://secure.piryx.com/donate/EKph3wRp/Test-PAC-Please-Ignore/lamar-smith

If you can’t contribute, you can still help by posting that link to your facebook and twitter.

Also, just to note, the donation meter at the top is about $500 short, as when the fundraiser began, there was some confusion on where to make the donation to, and about $500 was deposited into our general fund.

We are now in the home stretch of this effort – let’s make it happen!

UPDATE: We are less than $500 away!

Update 2: Less than $350 away!!!

Update 3: We are less than $200 away!

Update 4: We are about $100 away!

$50 away!!!

This is a copy of my post at mhg.lewiville.com.

The questions is what do people Really think? Should the government regulate the Internet or not?

Now SOPA has turned to CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) H.R. 3523.

View Video

Rick Santorum said in a debate that the internet is not a free forum for people to do what ever they want. I would have to agree, however since when does the government need to monitor us more than they already do?

BIG BROTHER/the U.S. Government has enough power! They need to allow law enforcement to continue enforcing the laws that are broken. Law enforcement has run internet sting operations for years! They have enforced laws that are broken whether it is child pornography, prostitution, fraud, copyright infringement etc.

WE DO NOT NEED ADDITIONAL LEGISLATION TO REGULATE THE INTERNET!

For the Full Text of H.R. 3523 click here!

TestPACPleaseIgnore is gearing up and ready to begin production on its first commercial spots aimed at US Representative Lamar Smith in TX District 21. The first spot will be simple, animated and trust he will definitely get the message. Now when thinking about a voice to narrate the first piece I thought why not have the voice over BE the actual “voice” and that’s you. So here’s what I was thinking, If any one of you are interested in being my VOICE OVER NARRATOR for my upcoming commercial spots please PM me a link [YOUTUBE/VIMEO ETC] to a quick, short VIDEO or AUDIO RECORDING of you giving me your name [first name only is fine], what you do for a living and what about SOPA/PIPA/ACTA bothers you the most. [FYI these videos are just to sample your voice.] I’m only in need of ONE VO [MALE or FEMALE] person right now but this is to build up a list of VO talent for the next spots after this one. I hope to hear from you guys/girls.

Edit: Guys thanks for the response! The submission i've been getting have been great! Let me add by saying im looking for ALL kinds of voices meaning you dont have to sound like anyone, just be yourself, I want it to be you.

..and as for the pro VO guys I am definitely keeping your contact info, this is only the beginning.

Edit2: Does anyone know someone with, or have themselves a TEXAN ACCENT?? Preferably a natural accent and not faked, unless its good enough and it we cant tell the difference or you walk the plank! jk

Fight_the_Fight TestPACPleaseIgnore

Link to my AMA

A redditor was awesome enough to set up /r/michaelhamcampaign which is where I will be doing my Reddit based campaign pieces.

Thanks

Edit: let me clarify that I am not asking for help from any PACs associated with this subreddit. I am asking for help from Redditors, independent of the PAC. I have been following RPAC for some time and I know that the Redditors who hang out here are extremely motivated.

Hey All,

So, we are going to buy a couple hundred dollars worth of Reddit Text Ads (the ads that go at the top of each sub-reddit). The goal of the ads will to drive new people to the TestPAC sub-reddit, and to get people involved in the discussion who maybe don't read /r/politics and may not be aware of TestPAC.

With this goal in mind, we need suggestions for the text & also for the small picture that comes with the ad. The most upvoted (serious) suggestion will take the cake. I'm x/posting to r/testpac and rpolitics as well!

Also if you haven't yet joined /r/testpac then you should!

EDIT: X/Post to /r/politics = http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/pdbin/vote_what_should_testpacs_first_issue_be_must_be/

Cheers, Scott Bloomberg Test PAC Leader Advisor

Based on 2010 estimates of a middle class that makes up 45% of the USA's population.

And this is only the middle class.