Redstate

Posted at 12:05pm on Jun. 26, 2008 Supreme Court Quotes of the Day, Non-Heller Edition (Or: A Good Day For The First Amendment, Too)

By Dan McLaughlin

Justice Alito's opinion this morning in Davis v. FEC won't get as much attention as Heller, and breaks a lot less new ground, simply holding that Congress can't set up one set of contribution-and-expenditure campaign finance rules for everyone and then a second set of rules giving an unequal advantage intended to 'level the playing field' for candidates whose opponents are able to self-finance all or part of their campaigns (the so-called "Millionaires' Amendment," one of the more egregiously incumbent-protective features of McCain-Feingold). The Court's 5-4 majority (you can guess the lineup) didn't tinker with any of the existing and misguided structure of campaign finance regulation that's existed since the 1976 Buckley v. Valeo opinion, as Justice Alito was careful to note that the parties had not asked the Court to reconsider Buckley. Instead, the Court rather pointedly told Congress that if it had made a mess of campaign finance regulation, that's Congress' problem, not the Court's.

Read on . . .

Posted in bcra | campaign finance reform | Justice Alito | Law | mccain-feingold — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:57am on Jun. 20, 2008 Hey, Senator Obama! I know that you're busy in Chicago ducking the FISA thing...

...you *will* make a statement opposing it though, right?

By Moe Lane

Anyway, we need you to do some cleanup. Amanda Carpenter over at Town Hall noticed - as is her wont, clever person that she is - that there's a couple of bills that you co-sponsored: S. 1285 (the "Fair Elections Now Act") and S. 436 (the "Presidential Funding Act of 2007"). Seeing as you aren't actually an advocate for that sort of thing anymore, it's well past time that you remove your name from those two bills. Just for the principle of the thing, you understand.

Principle.

P-R-I-N-C... oh, never bloody mind.

Moe Lane

PS: Fair's fair: I suppose it's possible that these were just two more bills that you sidled your way onto and then promptly forgot about. As is your wont.

Posted in 2008 | A Child wearing an adult's clothes | Barack Obama | campaign finance reform — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:00am on Jun. 20, 2008 Let's get this Friday started: WaPo spanks Obama.

It ain't Glenn Miller, but it should get you in the mood.

By Moe Lane

I do believe that the the Washington Post is a little annoyed at the junior Senator from Illinois:

The Politics of Spare Change
Even $85 million wasn't enough to get Barack Obama to keep his promise.

BARACK OBAMA isn't abandoning his pledge to take public financing for the general election campaign because it's in his political interest. Certainly not. He isn't about to become the first candidate since Watergate to run an election fueled entirely with private money because he will be able to raise far more that way than the mere $85 million he'd get if he stuck to his promise -- and with which his Republican opponent, John McCain, will have to make do. No, Mr. Obama, or so he would have you believe, is forgoing the money because he is so committed to public financing. Really, it hurts him more than it hurts Fred Wertheimer.

Pardon the sarcasm. But given Mr. Obama's earlier pledge to "aggressively pursue" an agreement with the Republican nominee to accept public financing, his effort to cloak his broken promise in the smug mantle of selfless dedication to the public good is a little hard to take. "It's not an easy decision, and especially because I support a robust system of public financing of elections," Mr. Obama said in a video message to supporters.

It goes on from there: as Ed Morrissey himself notes, the WaPo isn't buying this as being anything except a typical politician facing a situation where he has to choose between keeping his word and seeking an advantage (I would recommend this article from the Center for Responsive Politics for those wishing to protest that statement). Which, when you think of it, is one of the more damning things that you can say about the man.

Oh, well. No doubt Obama will attempt to redeem himself with his base by aggressively opposing the passage of the FISA bill today.

Moe Lane

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | campaign finance reform | Washington Post — Comments (11)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:53am on Jan. 29, 2008 John McCain: Planning to Violate Campaign Finance Laws?

By Brad Smith

The Politico has an article up noting that John McCain may be violating campaign finance laws even as we speak.

Last year, Senator McCain applied for federal tax dollars to help finance his presidential campaign. In certifying his eligibility, Senator McCain had to certify to the Federal Election Commission that "the candidate [McCain] and his authorized committees will not incur qualified expenses in excess of the limitations on such expenses [provided by law.]" 2 U.S.C. 9033(b)(1).

Notes the Politico, "At the time, he was lagging behind his competitors in fundraising and in the polls. And an infusion of so-called matching funds seemed his only hope to keep his campaign afloat.

"Now, however, he appears likely to raise more than the $50 million the program would allow his campaign to spend."

Read on...

Posted in Archived | campaign finance reform | John McCain | Spotlight Blogs — Comments (28) / Email this page » / Read More »