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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (7207)	5/11/2004 1:13:17 PM
From: mph	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 90947

so how is Kerry going to pay off the loan?

To: American Spirit who wrote (7207)	5/11/2004 11:49:04 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

You are very naive if you actually feel that Kerry's funding is totally without strings. What about the 527 groups? Any ethical problems with the money going into these groups? hillnews.com 527s scot free in 2004 General counsel recommends regs delay of 3 months By Alexander Bolton The general counsel of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) yesterday urged the agency to delay for three months any new regulations that would restrict 527 groups and other special-interest organizations from spending millions of dollars to influence the 2004 election. The general counsel’s recommendation to delay new regulations is a huge victory for Democrats, who are relying heavily on the television advertising campaigns and voter-mobilization efforts funded by these groups to make up for their substantial funding disparity compared to Republicans. The recommendation also provides cover for agency commissioners who are leery about curbing the influence of unlimited political donations on federal races, including the race for the White House. FEC sources and outside observers of the agency say the counsel’s recommendation will make it easier for commissioners to vote this week not to crack down on 527 groups in the middle of an election year. The tax-exempt groups are named after a section of the tax code. FEC commissioners interviewed by The Hill acknowledged that if the agency waits three months to issue rules for 527 groups and other special-interest organizations, those rules would not take place until after this year’s election. Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said, “A 90-day delay sanctions these activities for this election cycle.” Michael Toner, a GOP-appointed commissioner, who along with Commissioner Scott Thomas, a Democratic appointee, has proposed a bipartisan plan for regulating 527 groups, said, “Delaying a decision is making a decision” to do nothing to curb these organizations this election year. Toner warned that a delay “will have major implications for this election” and that if 527 groups are allowed to spend soft money freely, “we’re going to see the beginning of a new soft-money arms race in 2004.” The agency is scheduled to vote tomorrow on whether to implement new rules or defer action. FEC sources and campaign-finance experts who follow the agency said that — in all likelihood — the agency will vote to punt the controversial issue. However, the agency’s six commissioners have the option of adopting new rules despite the general counsel’s recommendation. As of now, two commissioners back the plan to implement the new rules immediately, while two are against it. The two commissioners who are undecided are viewed as leaning against immediate action. A decision by the FEC to delay rules on 527 groups would essentially block any effort this year to challenge the operation of those groups in court. Without the implementation of rules, there would be nothing to challenge legally. Furthermore, 527 groups could easily argue before a judge that their operations cannot violate the law since the FEC itself is unclear about how to interpret the law. FEC Chairman Bradley Smith defended the proposed delay, saying, “We’re talking about a major expansion in our regulatory reach, and that is not something to be taken lightly.” Smith added that he thinks the rulemaking process for 527s should be terminated altogether because there is no evidence that lawmakers envisioned restrictions on these groups when they passed campaign-finance reform. Toner and Thomas’s proposal would require that 527 groups that run ads promoting, supporting, attacking or opposing federal candidates register with the FEC as political committees. Their proposal also stipulates that groups operating strictly regulated hard-money accounts and loosely regulated soft-money accounts would follow an allocation formula requiring them to pay for a minimum of half the cost of certain activities, such as voter drives and public communications that promote a political party or a federal candidate, with hard money. Campaign-finance watchdog groups howled in protest at news of the FEC general counsel’s recommendation to delay rulemaking. “It’s absurd, and if this approach is adopted by the commission it would be the worst kind of bureaucratic farce,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, who as a lobbyist spearheaded the passage of the McCain-Feingold legislation two years ago. “It would represent the commission acting to ensure that millions of dollars in illegal soft money is spent by 527 groups to influence the federal election.” Wertheimer urged the commission to adopt the Toner-Thomas proposal, which he called an “excellent bipartisan” proposal. Critics of any delay by the FEC to implement rulemaking for 527 groups cite what they call antiquated allocation regulations that allow soft-money organizations to flout the spirit of campaign-finance reform. For example, under the current allocation rules, Americans Coming Together (ACT), a Democratic-allied group that has stated unequivocally its purpose is to defeat President Bush, can fund 98 percent of its voter mobilization and other election activities with soft money. “I haven’t heard one person defend the use of 98 percent soft money by ACT to pay for voter-mobilization purposes as a proper interpretation of the law,” said Wertheimer. Larry Noble, who formerly served as general counsel at the FEC and now heads the Center for Responsive Politics, also criticized yesterday’s recommendation. “I think it’s very unfortunate, and I think it’s cover for the commission to dodge this issue this election,” Noble said. “By not dismissing [the proposed rules] and not taking final action, [the commissioners] can say they’re still thinking about it and stave off final attack.” Members of Congress such as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the father of the new campaign-finance law, have said the FEC is ineffective and needs to be overhauled. Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) has indicated that he is considering holding hearings on overhauling the agency.