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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: willcousa who wrote (389475)	4/10/2003 3:30:04 PM
From: Tadsamillionaire	Respond to of 769670

As Majority Leader Tom Daschle shepherded the most significant campaign-finance reform in a generation through the Senate, some political allies and ex-aides were forming two groups that could typify the next generation of big-money political spending. In February and March, former Daschle aides and political allies formed two corporations, called 527s for the section of the federal tax code they fall under, that will allow them to raise money and spend it for political purposes. Some campaign-finance experts predict that similar groups could soon dot the landscape, taking in the large "soft money" donations that now go directly into the coffers of political parties or the political action committees of politicians. The campaign-finance bill recently signed into law by President Bush bans politicians and parties from raising these large donations but does not restrict former aides or political allies from doing so. The new law is set to take effect the day after the Nov. 5 elections, although court tests of its constitutionality lie ahead. Under the new law, politicians will have to be careful to not coordinate the fund raising or spending of these groups, or be involved with them in any way, said Kent Cooper, a former Federal Election Commission official who now tracks campaign spending at the Web site PoliticalMoneyline.com. Organizers of both groups said Daschle had no involvement. Daschle adviser Anita Dunn said she viewed the organizations as a response to "relentless attacks since October" by conservative groups in South Dakota. "It's not an authorized committee for Senator Daschle," she said. "This is not something he has asked for or has any control over. ... Nor could he" under the law. She would not speculate about whether such committees would proliferate after the new campaign-reform measures take effect. But for donors seeking to help a politician's cause, the affiliations with Daschle will be clear, Cooper said. One group, DaschleDemocrats.org, has received donor commitments for more than $100,000 and has begun advertising on South Dakota radio, according to spokeswoman Cari Rudd. It is preparing to raise money on the Internet. "I see it as a committee that will be here as long as it is needed," said Rudd, a former Daschle aide. The Web site said DaschleDemocrats.org was formed to counter conservative groups who have attacked the Senate majority leader in radio and TV ads in South Dakota. Those groups have vowed to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to portray Daschle as out of step with Bush's agenda. Some also have said they hoped to inflict collateral damage on Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., who is in a re-election battle with Rep. John Thune, R-S.D. The other group run by former Daschle aides, The Priorities Project Inc., "intends to raise as much money as necessary and appropriate" to push "progressive issues," according to Joel Johnson, a former Daschle aide and now a prominent Washington lobbyist. But he denied that it would be affiliated with Daschle in any way - even if Daschle decides to run for president. "I've worked on a lot of issues over the years and have made a lot of contacts in the political world, and this is just a way to keep pushing these same progressive issues," Joel Johnson said. He and former Clinton White House Chief of Staff John Podesta are primary officers of this new fund-raising group. Podesta also is listed as a founding member of DaschleDemocrats.org. Joel Johnson said he is "loosely affiliated" with that group, too. "I made some phone calls to put supporters together and to raise money," Joel Johnson said of DaschleDemocrats.org. "I am not officially involved, and don't intend to be." He is president of The Priorities Project, which filed its organizational status with the IRS on Feb. 27. He said one reason he formed the group was that he grew "aggravated by special interests on the right who would distort the public debate with money and advertising. We see this as an opportunity to engage in that debate and advance the kind of issues we've been working on for years in our career." Some campaign-finance experts think these types of committees - and those formed under other nonprofit areas of the federal tax code - will be a first logical destination of big money now going directly to political parties. Cooper, of PoliticalMoneyline.com, predicted that the political parties' fund-raising operations and politicians' leadership PACs - whose solicitation of "soft money" has exploded in recent elections - may be replaced by a constellation of ideological fund-raising groups operating as 527s or as charitable groups. Under the new McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law, the one restriction on these groups would be what they can say on television during certain times of the campaign season. McCain-Feingold restricts "issue ad" groups from running TV ads expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate 60 days before to an election, unless they pay for the ads with money raised under stricter Federal Election Commission guidelines. Under McCain-Feingold, those contributions are limited to $4,000 from individuals and $10,000 from PACs during one election cycle. However, critics are challenging the new law in court, claiming that restrictions on political speech violate the First Amendment. dumpdaschle.org

To: willcousa who wrote (389475)	4/10/2003 3:30:12 PM
From: Kenneth V. McNutt	Respond to of 769670

NBC is reporting that the democrat party has hired the Iraq information minister to be their new spokesperson. He first rejected an offer from Kerry. He was quoted as saying "Sir. What you ask of me s beneath my dignity." Ken