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

To: American Spirit who wrote (420912)	6/30/2003 7:39:47 PM
From: Jerrel Peters	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

<font color=red>McCain wanted Campaign Finance Reform for everybody else except himself.</font> Read the fine print and you will see that American Indian tribes were exempt from the limitations. Then research deeper and you may find out that a very large portion of McCains contributors are American Indians. Yep, McCain is a very bright individual...but Honest??? Just did some searching and came up with this... How Current Campaign Finance Reform Legislation Increases Tribal Governments' Influence on Elections and Federal Agencies The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has ruled that Tribal Governments are not subject to the same limits on campaign contributions as individuals and non-governmental groups. The question has been raised as to the wisdom and fairness of this ruling. It has been the hope of many that current campaign finance legislation, designed to limit the influence of special interest groups, would be written or amended to prevent unbridled tribal government campaign contributions. citizensalliance.org Is There a Tribal Campaign Loophole? March 1, 2002 Dear Senator _______________________ It has been reported that President Bush recently asked congressional leaders if there is a tribal campaign loophole. Tribal representatives are actively denying that any loophole exists. Is there a tribal loophole, and if so, what is it? Consider the following: LOOPHOLE #1: Tribal governments are the only governments that are allowed to use government funds to actively support issues and candidates in local, state and federal elections. No other government may make campaign contributions, much less use taxpayer dollars to do so. LOOPHOLE #2: Unless legislation expressly and specifically includes "Indian tribes" as subject to the proposed legislation, Indian tribes are exempt from its requirements. The current, and most past, Campaign Finance Reform legislation does not expressly include "Indian Tribes." LOOPHOLE #3: Tribal government campaign contributions violate the general rule that campaign contributions must be voluntarily given. Tribal contributions can't represent the political diversity of tribal members. LOOPHOLE #4: The FEC ruled in Advisory Opinion No. 2000-05 (May 15, 2000), that tribal governments are considered as a "persons" for campaign finance purposes. Tribal government's status as "persons" combines with their attributes of partial "sovereignty" (independent supremacy) and sovereign immunity. This means that tribal governments influence local, state and federal campaigns without effective disclosure and accountability. LOOPHOLE # 5: While tribal governments are "persons" for purposes of disclosure and accountability, they are not limited to contributions as "individuals." They are treated like PACs who can give without restriction on aggregate contributions. Thus tribal governments can use government funds for essentially undisclosed and unrestricted campaign contributions. We challenge anyone doubting the above loopholes to quantify the amount of hard, soft, direct and indirect tribal governmental contributions to just the members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. We further ask that they document the original source of that money. This is a very small sample of what is happening in the entire country. The above five significant "tribal loopholes" have significantly corrupted and unbalanced the elected political process. Every tribal member is equally represented along with every other citizen by state and federal elected officials, without the involvement of tribal governments. Even if the Shays-Meehan bill effectively stops the soft money contributions of tribal governments to political parties, these loopholes will continue. Therefore, if the Shays-Meehan bill can't be amended to correct these loopholes, Citizens Equal Rights Alliance (CERA) respectfully requests that you vote against it. Sincerely, Howard B Hanson, Chairman