The Free Speech Fairness Act would end a decades-old attack on speech

In 1954, Texas Sen. Lyndon Johnson proposed an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code that has strangled the free speech and religious liberty of churches and the pastors who lead them ever since.

The so-called Johnson Amendment, passed simply by voice vote in the Senate, prevents tax-exempt organizations from participating or intervening in “any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.” To this day, the IRS judges what constitutes prohibited political activity based “on the facts and circumstances.” Hardly an objective standard.