By Paul Jacob

If you use email, or keep a Web journal known as a blog, beware. The government will soon be out to get you.

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, better known as McCain-Feingold, has never been just about keeping money out of politics. Political speech is its main target. This is clearer than ever, now that the Federal Elections Commission prepares to regulate the Internet.

In 2002, the FEC exempted the Net from its purview. Though the clear meaning of McCain-Feingold prohibits all sorts of activities that can be done most effectively on the Net - such as passing on leaflets, campaign tracts, slogans, and the like - the FEC realized that many citizens regard the Net as their domain, and sagely tried to duck regulating it.

But Declan McCullagh, in an important March 3 article on C/NET, notes that a judge overturned that exemption last fall. So now, whether the FEC likes it or not, bloggers and freewheeling email users are going to be subject to fines and censorship. Even mere links to campaign websites are going to be considered campaign contributions fully under the iron hand of the FEC, which can find no rationale to exempt bloggers.

That is, unless Congress, which caused the problem in the first place, steps in.

Congress could simply exempt email and website creators from the illiberal provisions of McCain-Feingold, keeping the Internet as a sort of "free speech reserve" in a sea of regulation and censorship.

Or it could repeal McCain-Feingold in toto.

In a free society, Congress would opt for the total fix, wouldn't it?

This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.

Common Sense is published by Americans for Limited Government. Their website can be visited at www.limitedgov.org.