‘McCain Taps Cash He Sought to Limit’

The Washington Post on Sunday ran a front page story critical of Sen. McCain’s efforts to raise millions of dollars to support his bid for the GOP nomination from the very people and money he has sought to severely regulate — if not eliminate – in the recent past.  

The article starts…

“Just about a year and a half ago, Sen. John McCain went to court to try to curtail the influence of a group to which A. Jerrold Perenchio gave $9 million, saying it was trying to ‘evade and violate’ new campaign laws with voter ads ahead of the midterm elections.

“As McCain launches his own presidential campaign, however, he is counting on Perenchio, the founder of the Univision Spanish-language media empire, to raise millions of dollars as co-chairman of the Arizona Republican’s national finance committee.

“In his early efforts to secure the support of the Republican establishment he has frequently bucked, McCain has embraced some of the same political-money figures, forces and tactics he pilloried during a 15-year crusade to reduce the influence of big donors, fundraisers and lobbyists in elections. That includes enlisting the support of Washington lobbyists as well as key players in the fundraising machine that helped President Bush defeat McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries.”

And, while McCain is preparing to introduce legislation in the Senate to further limit political speech by banning so-called “527″ organizations,  the article reports…

“At least six of McCain’s first eight national finance co-chairmen have given or raised large donations for political parties or 527 groups, campaign and IRS records show. In all, the finance co-chairs have given at least $13.5 million in soft money and 527 donations since the 1998 election.”

George Will: ‘For McCain, a Surplus of Irony’

In May of last year, columnist George Will wrote a must-read piece on the issue of McCain and public financing. 

While the piece is nearly 9 months old, it is as relevant today as it was then. 

Will predicted…

“John McCain’s undeclared but ubiquitous presidential campaign will produce a delicious moment when he announces, as he surely will, that he will not participate in the public funding system for presidential primaries. …

“There are two compounded ironies. First, the mantra of campaign ‘reformers’ is that there is ‘too much’ money in politics. But McCain will shun public funding because it provides too little money. He can raise much more from private interests. (But not from “special interests” — interests McCain disapproves of.) Second, the reformers revere the McCain-Feingold legislation that expanded government regulation of the quantity, timing and content of political speech. But McCain-Feingold is one important reason the public funding system is collapsing.”

The full column can be read here.

McCain: “Obama is my hero?”

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama wants to keep the public financing option open should he win the Democrat nomination.  He has already said he will forgo public financing for the primary election. 

Obama is asking the Federal Election Commission for an advisory opinion on whether he can begin raising private donations for the general election and return them if he ultimately opts for the public cash (should he win the nomination). 

Ben Smith’s blog at The Politico is following it here.

He reported Wednesday… 

“Contrary to media reports today, Sen. Barack Obama is trying to leave open the option of accepting public financing for his expected presidential bid.

“Obama, D-Ill., last week asked the Federal Election Commission whether he could raise contributions that would disqualify him from receiving public financing, but return them later if he decided he wanted to receive taxpayer money for his campaign.”

McCain, who continues to refuse to “talk straight” with the American people about his intentions on this issue has never loved Obama so much. 

Why?

For the sake of stating the obvious, the reason Mr. Campaign Finance Reform is remaining silent on the public financing question is because he’s trying to avoid being labeled a hypocrite on the very issue that defines his political career — that is so-called “campaign finance reform” (aka assaulting the First Amendment).

And, Obama’s FEC request just may provide McCain a false sense of political cover.

You see, Obama’s request states that the Illinois Senator “would not, if the law allows, rule out the possibility of a publicly funded campaign if both major parties’ nominees eventually decide, or even agree, on this course.”

If the FEC rules in Obama’s favor, look for McCain to try to unsuccessfully weasel out of his little predicament.

Mr. McCain, we got news for you; After years of assaulting the First Amendment rights of We the People, it ain’t gonna work.

McCain has made his own bed.  His refusal to now sleep in it for the sake of political expediency has already earned him the hypocrite label he is so desperately trying to avoid.

‘McCain-Feingold’ chief angst for conservative bloggers and blog readers as the Arizona Senator seeks the GOP nomination…

Earlier this week, Sen. McCain’s presidential campaign staff held a conference call with conservative bloggers.  David All covered it live and in detail.

Powerline has a great post about it, in which the writer expressed “alarm” about what he perceives to be a ”strong dislike and distrust” of Senator McCain, not necessarily by bloggers, but by “blog readers.”

In addition to pointing to the Pajama’s Media Presidential Straw Poll in which McCain is trailing far behind at least seven other GOP candidates (including the likes of Fred Thompson, Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter), he identified three main themes in the anti-McCain messages bloggers get…

The number one anti-McCain message?  You guessed it:  “McCain-Feingold.”

According to Powerline…

 ”I identified three main themes that appear in the anti-McCain messages we get. The first, of course, is McCain-Feingold.”

However, John Weaver of McCain’s staff was not shy in boasting on the call that McCain is committed to further muzzling political speech.

This from David All’s coverage…

Weaver:  “We certainly do feel that campaign finance law has helped the system. In fact, the Senator is re-introducing legislation to ban 527s with Chris Shays…”

Yet, while Senator McCain is dead set on attacking the First Amendment, Candidate McCain continues to dodge the question of whether he will limit his own ability to speak by campaigning within the presidential public financing system. 

Capitol Hill Reporter Ignores McCain Hypocrisy on Campaign Finance…

The Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill, today published a story highlighting some minor inconsistencies in Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s record on the campaign finance reform issue.  

Alex Bolton, the reporter on the story, referenced articles dating all the way back to Romney’s 1994 Senatorial campaign against Teddy Kennedy in which Romney was supportive of some campaign finance restrictions.   But that was then…

Romney has been critical of McCain because of the Arizona Senator’s far more substantial advocacy for First Amendment restrictions under the self-righteous guise of “campaign finance reform.”

At a recent meeting of Conservatives, Romeny condemned the 2002 McCain-Feingold legislation, which prompted the audience to “erupt in applause.” 

And,  Romney has used the issue on the campaign trail to distinguish himself from his rival McCain.  He’s even called McCain-Feingold “a terrible piece of legislation.”

Unfortunately, Mr. Bolton missed the real story.  That is McCain’s ongoing refusal to abide by speech restrictions similar to those he seeks to impose on the American people.  Specifically, his refusal to answer the direct question of whether he will abide by the limitations of the public financing system as he seeks the GOP nomination. 

Indeed, not only has McCain refused to answer the question, he is also vowing to further regulate political speech by sponsoring legislation in the 110th Congress aimed at independent “527″ organizations.

So let’s get this straight; McCain, “Mr. Campaign Finance Reform” himself, appears to be putting his own political aspirations ahead of his distorted “campaign finance” principles and it doesn’t even get a mention in The Hill story?  Nor does McCain’s insistence on further muzzling the American people?

Then again, with McCain feeling the heat on this issue, it wouldn’t surprise us if his staff put Bolton up to the story.  When things aren’t going your way, attack your opponents, of course, on the same issue, to neutralize the negative.  

We can’t say that’s what happened in this instance.  Maybe not.  But if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably not a giraffe. 

SCOTUS and Congress May Restore Citizens’ Free Speech and Association Rights Stripped by McCain-Feingold. Candidate McCain remains silent…

We have said it before, and we’ll say it again.  The McCain-Feingold legislation passed by Congress in 2002 is one of the greatest legislative assaults on the First Amendment rights of the people ever passed by Congress. 

Indeed, one of the most egregious provisions in the bill deals with “electioneering communication.”  In layman’s terms, that provision prohibits citizens’ organizations like the Center for Individual Freedom and others from running broadcast ads within 30 days of a primary and 60 days of a general election that simply mention the name of a federal candidate.  In other words, citizens’ organizations are prohibited from running broadcast ads urging others to petition their Congressional representatives about pending or upcoming legislation close to elections.

But there is hope.  The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments in the consolidated cases FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life and McCain v. Wisconsin Right to Life for April 25th.  A decision by the Court on the question of whether the McCain-Feingold “electioneering communication” provision is unconstitutional as applied to grassroots issue advocacy ads is expected sometime in June. 

In addition, Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) has reintroduced the First Amendment Restoration Act (H.R. 71), which would repeal the “electioneering communication” provision of McCain-Feingold. 

In a release announcing the reintroduction of the Act, Bartlett stated…

“I am firmly committed to protecting our Constitution. As stated in the First Amendment to the Constitution; ‘Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.’   No constitutional right is absolute; however, it is clearly a violation of the First Amendment to restrict organized group communications and limit what people can say about a candidate and when they may choose to speak out.”  

Despite all the activity mentioned above to restore the First Amendment rights of the people, Senator John McCain is vowing to “further clamp down on independent ‘527′ groups” — further restricting Americans’ free speech and association rights. 

As for Candidate McCain, he remains silent on his presidential campaign’s intentions to abide by speech limitations similar to those he has imposed and seeks to expand on the American people. 

Edwards says ‘Show Me the Money!’ McCain says nothing.

USA Today reports today that John Edwards has joined Sen. Hillary Clinton in renouncing the limitations of the public campaign financing system for their respective presidential campaigns.

According to the paper…

“Edwards said in an interview that he expects major candidates in both parties to raise unlimited private dollars rather than participate in the public system.  He said he needs to do the same ‘to have the funds to be competitive.’”

Writing with some charity, the paper says that Sen. John McCain has not yet said whether he will accept public financing.  Actually, McCain has been asked, directly by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on television and by the Center for Individual Freedom in two letters — one dated January 25, and the other dated January 29.

McCain has dodged the questions.  Refusing to answer is a bit different from just not saying.

In fact, it is fully expected that all top-tier presidential candidates will refuse public financing.  But none of the rest of them have made much-heralded-by-the-media careers in backing “campaign finance reform.”  John McCain has.

The day that John McCain says  he’s not going to abide by public financing, a lot of his media and “reformist” friends will need to ask and answer the real question:  Is the world champion of “reform” just another political hypocrite on the make?

McCain nowhere to be found on new public financing legislation…

Salon.com published an interesting article today titled “How to fix campaign financing forever for $50.“

To be sure, the purpose of the article leaves a lot to be desired as it advocates a public financing plan in which the government would give every citizen $50 to anonymously donate to political candidates of their choosing.  (That’s just great, leave it to the folks at Salon.com to advocate a plan in which we tax the American people to fund federal campaigns.)

Anyway, if you can stomach getting past the ridiculousness of the plan, the article does make some accurate and interesting observations.  Not the least of which is noting Sen. John McCain’s absence on new legislation to broaden the presidential public financing system.   

The legislation is being sponsored by McCain’s old pals, Senator Russ Feingold and Representatives Christopher Shays and Martin Meehan.  But no McCain — nope, the Senate’s “chief campaign finance reformer” is running for President.  And, despite sponsoring similar if not identical legislation in the past, McCain seems to have abandoned his distorted campaign finance principles as he seeks to raise all the “special interest money” he can to support his bid for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. 

In fact, this go around, the article notes that McCain says he is not even familiar with Feingold’s idea.   (Right — we guess Sen. McCain also has a bridge in Brooklyn to sell us real cheap!)

The article states…

“This week Sen. Russell Feingold… offered a plan that would modestly tweak the current system, increasing some public funding here and eliminating some limits there. The plan’s prospects look uncertain. His former co-conspirator in reform, John McCain, says he’s not even familiar with Feingold’s idea, perhaps because as a presidential candidate he now spends much of his time asking rich people for money.”

Feingold’s legislation should not pass.  It is bad public policy.  But McCain’s absence on the legislation, coupled with his refusal to ”talk straight” with the American people about whether he will campaign for the GOP nomination within the limitations of the public financing system, is very telling. 

Specifically, it tells us that with his own political ambitions at stake, McCain doesn’t care to abide by speech restrictions similar to those he seeks to impose on the American people.

Sign the ‘$traight Talk?’ Petition…

A quick check this morning revealed that the “$traight Talk?” petition is getting a great response.

But we need more signatures. 

If you haven’t already done so, sign the online petition here.

Apparently John McCain missed the memo…

As James Bopp, Jr., General Counsel for the James Madison Center for Free Speech and one of the foremost experts on election law in this country, was kind enough to point out, the Republican National Committee unanimously passed a resolution at its winter meeting in January opposing any further regulation of citizens’ groups, including ‘527′ organizations.

It would seem that McCain missed that memo — Republicans are against muzzling political speech.

Bopp was the chief sponsor of that resolution, which is posted below…