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Answering a question at the Saddleback Forum hosted by Rick Warren, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain gave the names of four sitting Supreme Court justices that he would not have nominated were he president: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer; David Souter and John Paul Stevens.Those for justices, along with McCain's fellow Arizonan, the now-retired Sandra Day O'Connor, made up the majority that decided in 2003 in favor of the constitutionality of the sweeping abridgement of free speech known as McCain-Feingold, under the guise of limiting the perceived corruption of politics and politicians.The bill was signed into law by...

Encouraged by the U.S. Supreme Court, conservatives are launching a wholesale legal assault on campaign finance laws. And among the leaders is a man once charged with enforcing those laws: former Federal Election Commission Chairman Bradley Smith. His goals are big. He doesn’t want to just scale back the laws; he wants to pretty much wipe them out. “Are we better off with McCain-Feingold?” Smith asks. If it were overturned, he adds, “that would put us in a system that existed before Jack Abramoff, William Jefferson, Bob Ney, Mark Foley and Ted Stevens. Those scandals happened during the McCain-Feingold era.”...

Bloggers and web site operators may support, oppose, link to, and work cooperatively with federal political candidates. This freedom was reaffirmed when the newly re-constituted Federal Election Commission released its first two enforcement cases August 12. The Commission’s refusal to regulate blogging and internet sites is not new, but it is notable is that the pro-blogger decision was made within a week or two of the new Commission taking office. Of the scores of items on its docket, the new Commission chose to address this one first: quite likely because they wanted to send a signal to that bloggers are...

Voters overwhelmingly believe that politicians will “break the rules to help people who give them a lot of money,” but most say there’s a bigger problem in politics today—media bias. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 55% believe media bias is more of a problem than big campaign contributions. Thirty-six percent (36%) disagree and think that campaign cash is a bigger problem. People believe media bias is a bigger problem even though 63% believe most politicians will break the rules to help campaign contributors. Just 14% believe most politicians would refrain from breaking the rules for a...

When launched last fall, the Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America (FSPA) was labeled an evil," "soft-money" group; it was no surprise its activities would immediately be denounced by Sen. John McCain. After all, for years Mr. McCain has been a vocal opponent of soft-money groups operating independently of federal campaigns. Unfortunately, it is McCain-Feingold "campaign finance reform" that reconfigured the playing field and created these groups. And, what is even more unfortunate for the GOP is that the vast majority of funds are being amassed by liberal groups such as Moveon.org to help Sen. Barack Obama. Reports indicate...

Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr tells the Brody File that when it comes to judges John McCain cannot be trusted. Basically what he is saying is that voters shouldn’t just accept the line that McCain will nominate judges like Roberts and Alito. Watch above [link in post #2]. Read below. Bob Barr: “I know that many conservatives for example say well we have to vote for McCain even though we don’t like him because he’ll give us better judges. Well, ask people to think a little bit about what they’re saying. John McCain gave us McCain/Feingold which is the most...

McCain Allies Find Finance-Law Holes Governors' Fund Recruits Big Donors; Bid to Catch Obama Allies of Sen. John McCain have found new loopholes in the campaign-finance law he helped write -- and they're using them to reel in huge contributions to help him compete with Sen. Barack Obama. In one method, a Republican Party fund aimed at electing governors has started marketing itself as a home for contributions of unlimited size to help Sen. McCain. His 2002 campaign law limits donations to presidential races to try to curtail the influence of wealth. The Republican Governors Association isn't subject to those...

A Priceless Opinion The Supreme Court strikes down the Millionaire's Amendment. by Hans A. von Spakovsky IN THE EXCITEMENT over the Supreme Court's decision in the D.C. gun ban case, almost overlooked was a second decision that struck another blow against the McCain-Feingold federal campaign finance law. In Davis v. FEC, a 5-4 majority found the "Millionaire's Amendment" to be unconstitutional, holding that it imposed an unprecedented penalty on any candidate who robustly exercises his First Amendment rights by requiring him to choose between the right to engage in unfettered political speech or to be subject to discriminatory fundraising limitations....

The Senate confirmed five new commissioners for the Federal Election Commission last night, ending a six-month impasse during which the agency was paralyzed by its lack of a quorum. "We're finally going to restore the FEC," Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said as the chamber prepared for the voice vote. The six-member panel has been unable to consider action this election year because only two commissioners were left after three recess appointments expired in December. Democrats blocked consideration of any replacements over objections to one of President Bush's choices, former Justice Department official Hans von Spakovsky, whom they...

It has been a splendid week for the Bill of Rights at the Supreme Court. In addition to their landmark gun rights ruling, the same five Justices took another whack at Congress's attempts to limit political speech via campaign-finance limits. John McCain, call your office. In Davis v. FEC, a 5-4 majority overturned a portion of the 2002 McCain-Feingold law that exempted the political opponents of rich candidates from the usual fund-raising limits in order to "level the playing field." Known as the Millionaire's Amendment, the law saddled wealthy, self-financing candidates with burdens designed to help their opponents. Millionaires had...

Supreme Court strikes down part of campaign finance law Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:15pm EDT By James Vicini WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court struck down on Thursday part of a U.S. campaign finance law that relaxes contribution limits for candidates facing wealthy, self-funded opponents, a ruling that could affect congressional elections in November. By a 5-4 vote, the high court declared unconstitutional the provision known as the "millionaire's amendment" that Congress adopted out of concern that rich, self-financing candidates would have a competitive advantage. It allows congressional candidates to accept higher contributions when they face opponents who spend large...

The McCain campaign's housecleaning of lobbyists is designed to strip away an issue easily targeted by Democrats, and even open a general-election line of attack by Republicans against Sen. Barack Obama's own ties to Washington insiders. By repeatedly trumpeting Sen. John McCain's ties to lobbyists, Mr. Obama is forcing his own ties into the spotlight, said Dan Schnur, a former McCain aide. "The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee better be as clean as a whistle on this front, or they're going to be dealing with exactly the same problem," he said. By pushing active lobbyists out of his...

WASHINGTON — John McCain and Barack Obama, the two leading presidential candidates, have set out sharply contrasting views on the role of the Supreme Court and the kind of justices they would appoint. Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.), in a speech two weeks ago, echoed the views of conservatives who say "judicial activism" is the central problem facing the judiciary. He called it the "common and systematic abuse . . . by an elite group . . . we entrust with judicial power." On Thursday, he criticized the California Supreme Court for giving gays and lesbians the right to marry, saying he...

Senator Barack Obama's campaign is steering the candidate's wealthy supporters away from independent Democratic groups, calling into question what had been expected to be the groups' central role in this year's Democratic offensive against Senator John McCain. Obama's national finance chairwoman, Chicago hotel mogul Penny Pritzker, told supporters at a national finance committee meeting in Indianapolis May 2, and in other conversations, not to give money to the groups, people familiar with her comments said. "From the beginning of this race Obama has told supporters that if they want to help his effort, they should do so through his campaign,"...

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The man picked by the John McCain campaign to run the 2008 Republican National Convention resigned Saturday after a report that his lobbying firm used to represent the military regime in Myanmar. Doug Goodyear resigned as convention coordinator and issued a two sentence statement: "Today I offered the convention my resignation so as not to become a distraction in this campaign. I continue to strongly support John McCain for president, and wish him the best of luck in this campaign." Goodyear, chief executive of lobbying firm DCI Group, resigned a few hours after Newsweek posted a...

Ugly locutions often crop up in the promotion of ugly politics. Consider the threat of "scrutinization." It has been made against some residents of Parker North, Colo., who expressed a political opinion without first getting their state government's permission for political activity. Herewith another example of what is being done around the nation in the name of political hygiene, as that is understood by "campaign finance reformers," those irksome improvers whose animating ideology is McCainism. Parker North is a cluster of about 300 houses close to the town of Parker. When two residents proposed a vote on annexation of their...

While Democrats absorbed the lessons of Pennsylvania this week, John McCain was coming to a few realizations of his own. For one, "big money" in politics isn't so bad after all. That's the takeaway from the presumptive GOP nominee's new fund-raising strategy, which his campaign has quietly rolled out these past few weeks. The McCain camp is teaming up with the Republican National Committee to tap into big, big donations from big, big donors – hoping to close the big, big money gap with Democrats. Their effort to do so will involve some creative abuse of the campaign finance restrictions...

A few years ago, the Federal Election Commission ruled that bloggers are eligible for the same exemptions from campaign-finance law as mainstream media outlets have enjoyed for decades. But the FEC's membership will change over time, meaning that the beliefs of the commissioners are likely to change as well. So a future FEC could rule differently. That's what concerns Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), a longtime proponent of preventing the federal government from extending campaign-finance laws to the Internet. His answer: On Thursday, Hensarling introduced a four-page bill he's calling the Blogger Protection Act of 2008. Hensarling intends to enshrine into...

McCain Almost Left the GOP -- Twice March 24, 2008 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT Senator McCain has not wrapped up the Chuck Hagel endorsement yet, and I wanted to mention this to you. Hagel was on This Week with Stephanopoulos on Sunday, and Stephanopoulos said to him, "Senator McCain is a good friend of yours. Why haven't you endorsed him?" HAGEL: When I work for someone or commit to someone, I want to be behind that person in every way I can. I've obviously got some differences with John on the Iraq war. That's no secret. I want to understand a...

The Supreme Court can do much today to remove the McCain-Fein gold speech-regulation law's stain if it decides to hear the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.... The 2008 election season is well under way, yet political speech remains decidedly un-free in America- held hostage to the vanity of John McCain and the cynicism of his accomplices in Congress and the media, who seek to silence their political opponents in the name of clean government.... Citizens United, an activist conservative group, wants relief from burdensome disclosure and disclaimers rules in ads for its documentary, "Hillary: The Movie." While...

... If there's a single thread that runs through the e-mails I receive from peevish Republicans, it's that none of the current candidates possesses the conservative purity of Ronald Reagan. One could almost get the idea that Dutch was betrayed by Pontius Pilate and crucified on Calvary. But that wasn't exactly the case. The fact of the matter is that Gov. Reagan gave Gov. Jerry Brown a run for his money – or should I say our money? – when it came to raising taxes here in California. But, in spite of the additional revenue, he was responsible in large...

From NBC's Mark MurrayThis Friday, the Clinton and Obama campaigns have traded numerous charges -- over national security, NAFTA, expectations for March 4, and the delegate math. The Obama camp now has added yet another topic to the discussion: Clinton's tax returns."Senator Clinton’s refusal to make this very basic disclosure has raised a number of eyebrows among advocates for increased transparency," the Obama campaign says in a memo. "As her top Ohio supporter Governor Ted Strickland said in his 2006 campaign, if a candidate is not releasing his or her “tax return, what is he hiding? We should question what’s...

"I am a proud conservative liberal Republican." http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4363279

WASHINGTON -- Everyone knows the First Amendment protects freedom of religion, speech, press and assembly. How many remember that, in addition, the First Amendment protects a fifth freedom -- to lobby? Of course it doesn't use the word lobby. It calls it the right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Lobbyists are people hired to do that for you, so that you can actually stay home with the kids and remain gainfully employed rather than spend your life in the corridors of Washington. To hear the candidates in this presidential campaign, you'd think lobbying is just one...

Ted Nugent: McCain has two battles he must win Sunday, February 17, 2008 Now that Mitt Romney has thrown in the towel and endorsed him, the Republican nominee for president will almost certainly be Sen. John McCain. Attempting residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is surely tough enough without turning your friends into enemies. There are plenty of enemies on the other side who wear different political stripes altogether. McCain faces a distrustful, dissatisfied, frustrated, and in some cases, downright angry conservative base. Conservatives are not happy with McCain. He has not always carried the conservative torch on immigration, taxes, First...

McCain a 'True Conservative,' Bush Says Feb 10 09:36 AM US/Eastern WASHINGTON (AP) - John McCain is a "true conservative," President Bush says, although the presumptive Republican presidential nominee may have to work harder to convince other conservatives that he is one of their own. McCain "is very strong on national defense," Bush said in an interview taped for airing on "Fox News Sunday." "He is tough fiscally. He believes the tax cuts ought to be permanent. He is pro-life. His principles are sound and solid as far as I'm concerned." But when asked about criticism of McCain by conservative...

McCain Slams Swiftboat Vets Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 1:19:32 pm PST Has anyone ever really shown that the allegations made by the Swift Boat Veterans against John F. Kerry were false? If someone has refuted the charges conclusively, I’ve never seen it—which makes John McCain’s continuing antipathy toward the Swiftboaters inexplicable: McCain Scrambles to Control Backers. Speaking to reporters aboard his campaign tour bus late Tuesday, McCain acknowledged that conservative independent groups pursuing a similar line to Cunningham’s could be impossible to control. “I think you have to worry about that, particularly the 527s,� McCain said, referring to the...

<p>For the second time in as many days, Sen. John McCain was forced to rebuke members of his own party for over-the-top attacks on Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama.</p>

Seattle drivers, what do you make of this? The billboard, which faces south from the corner of Western Avenue and Denny Way, states that it was funded by something called "Concerned Citizens for a Better America." You won't find the group's name on Google, except in a wayward comment thread or two. The group is not registered as a Political Action Committee or with the Washington Secretary of State's corporation division. Nor does it have to be -- based on this billboard, anyway -- because its message neither mentions a candidate by name nor appears too close to election time....

This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. While Hillary Clinton battles Barack Obama on the campaign trail, a judge in Los Angeles is quietly preparing to set a trial date in a $17 million fraud suit that aims to expose an alleged culture of widespread corruption by the Clintons and the Democratic Party.

By Gregg Jackson February 19, 2008 I for one am getting a little sick and tired of listening to the relentless screeds and caterwauling of these conservative elites who are in many regards totally disconnected from the conservative base -- especially the evangelical Christian field slaves who bring in the harvest. Why are the spoiled elites complaining about McCain like a bunch of petulant children when the reality is that, collectively, they share considerable blame for the fact that McCain is our likely nominee? You see for months these conservative elites have been whitewashing by far the most left wing...

An investigative author says George Soros used Sen. John McCain to push for limits on issue advertising by grassroots groups because he was upset over the cataclysmic failure of Hillarycare, the all-encompassing government health care program proposed during Bill Clinton's first term as president. The author, Richard Poe, told WND that Soros later funded the senator's Reform Institute because of their work together on the McCain-Feingold Act. "Money paid to the Reform Institute rewarded McCain for pushing the McCain-Feingold Act, a law which restricts the ability of grassroots groups to advertise on television, while allowing major media free rein to...

Two different stories regarding Hillary Clinton's finances caught my eye this past week. The big news was that Hillary had loaned her presidential campaign $5 million due to "overspending" in Iowa (which of course leads to the question, "If she can't manage her Iowa campaign budget, how can we trust her to manage the nation's budget?") The second, related story was that her campaign staff skipped off from a small town in New Hampshire without paying the rent for their headquarters. The landlord told local media that Hillary's staffers had agreed to pay a total of $500 in rent. Although...

Please allow this Blogger, read by two to three people every day, now cast her thoughts on alleged conservative John McCain, into the punditry ring. For even as the debates rage across the USA as to what to do, what to do, The Wise I has a solution to the McCain conundrum. For there is ONE thing that John McCain could do that would have me not only voting for him with enthusiasm but eagerly working for his campaign as well. Also, a funny “trick” pulled on the recent Delaware primary that could have, for the humorless, landed me in...

Banks have made loans against some dubious collateral lately, but John McCain's fund-raising list? That was the security the candidate put down when he took out a $3 million loan in November to get his then-struggling campaign through the primaries. There's a lesson here about campaign finance reform. Mr. McCain's candidacy was by last fall in serious trouble, his campaign coffers having drained away. Desperate for cash, the McCain campaign went to the bank for a loan -- in this case Fidelity & Trust Bank of Maryland, which lent $3 million on the strength of Mr. McCain's willingness to document...

The Clinton campaign is trying to halt the airing of Pace Picante Sauce TV ads until delegates have been chosen in the state of Texas. Anonymous Hillary campaign source has been quoted saying " It's driving Hillary Nuts, every time she puts on the TV to see how well she is doing in the polls in Guam, she is bombarded by Pace Picante commercials. It is not fair for a food company to ruthlessly run negative ads against the next president of the United States." Here is a sample of the ad that is unfairly influencing Hillary; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tqgo7-qKlw

The author and chief proponent of much of the tangled web of campaign finance rules and regulations, has decided that he can continue write the rules as they apply to his campaign while on the fly.Last summer, McCain asked to participate in the public financing system when his campaign hit the skids after the immigration amnesty debacle. After his request was approved by the FEC, he was scheduled to receive some $5.8 million. The money, however, would not come without strings attached. The restraints on fundraising as well as the state-specific spending limits imposed by the law, would mean that...

WASHINGTON -- As Sen. Hillary Clinton faces a money crunch, several of her top fund-raisers are considering using independent organizations to wage their own campaigns on her behalf. At least two sets of Clinton fund-raisers are speaking with lawyers to figure out how to create independent entities to support Mrs. Clinton in Ohio, Texas and other primary contests. Susie Tompkins Buell, the founder of the Esprit clothing company, says she is deciding whether to start her own entity to fund commercials for Mrs. Clinton, or whether to donate to existing groups, such as abortion-rights group Emily's List, that are already...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain, a passionate advocate of limits on campaign finances, is turning down government matching funds for the primary season to free him to spend more money as he prepares for a general election contest. McCain, who appears headed to win the Republican presidential nomination, sent letters to the Federal Election Commission and the Treasury Department notifying them of his decision to withdraw from the presidential election financing system. McCain had asked to participate in the public system last summer when his campaign, his fundraising and his poll numbers hit a low point that threatened to unravel...

Welcome to the 2008 general election, YouTube style. No sooner had the polls closed at the end of Super Tuesday, when a video popped up on YouTube attacking newly christened GOP front-runner John McCain where he's most vulnerable: his support for the Iraq war. The 83-second advertisement shows a consumer gamely struggling on the phone with a friendly but unhelpful service representative. It turns out to be the United States government on the line, which informs the befuddled citizen that she has no choice but to pay a hefty monthly recurring charge for the war. "In the past couple of...

It was as Mitt Romney was announcing his withdrawal from the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination that I arrived yesterday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Apparently Romney’s supporters were handing out stickers and signs up until his announcement – they didn’t even know. Regardless, it was the beginning of a great day for John McCain. At that point, the McCain team had switched from campaign mode to conservative love-fest mode – its staffers filled the halls of CPAC, the Mecca of conservatives that McCain snubbed last year. That was a fascinating political novelty, considering that candidates usually...

February 07, 2008 Read More: Antics CPAC to all CPAC-ers: Don't boo McCain John McCain may have it easier than he expected today when he commandeers the podium at CPAC this afternoon. Conservatives from all over will predictably fill the room to the brim to listen to what the now GOP front-runner has to say, despite a hate/love relationship with the guy. CPAC it seems, is directing its loyal goers to not boo McCain. They must be more excited that McCain has finally signed on to appear after years of snubs than they want to let on. During registration last...

The rest of the Republican world has pretty much decided whether it prefers John McCain or Mitt Romney. Now, finally, I have too. Both candidates have major strengths and distinct weaknesses. Either would have my vote in November. But I believe Romney is the better choice. This view may seem odd in light of the following comment I made a few weeks ago: Every time it looks like McCain will break away from the pack, I panic in anticipation of four years of watching him stick it to conservatives on a more than occasional basis. When things seem to be...

With John McCain’s victory in the Republican Primary in Florida, a lot of attention has come his way. The reaction of the pundits and the blogosphere has been all over the map. Some, such as Michael Medved, are enthusiastic about the candidate and his chances in the general election; others, such as Rush Limbaugh, are concerned that a McCain candidacy will spell the end of the Republican party as we know it. And with the cheering for and against him, so to have his past actions and policies come under scrutiny. Everything, from the Keating Five, to the Gang of...

Dear RNC: I am very concerned about the direction toward which it appears that the Republican Party is headed. In the words of Presidential hopeful John McCain, “they voted us in to change government, and the government changed us.” John McCain’s own admission of how he failed in his duty as Senator, along with the rest of our fellow Republicans who were voted out of office in 2006, to make the changes that he promised is very telling. More specifically, his admission raises suspicion as to whether he will fulfill his current promises, which not only mirror the past promises...

If John Kerry had been elected President of the United States in November 2004, especially with the incoming majority Democrat Congress, it is highly likely that Iraq would be in the midst of a civil war, Iran’s regional influence would have increased, Israel would be in more jeopardy than it is now, two Supreme Court seats would be occupied by clones of John Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg instead of by John Roberts and Samuel Alito, judicial decisions would have given even more “rights” to enemy combatants, domestic entitlements and earmarks would have skyrocketed, the Bush tax cuts would be...

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA -- "I want to get something out of the way because there are some pretty crazy rumors going around that the Huckabee campaign is pulling out of Florida,” Mike Huckabee said as he looked out into a crowd of 250 enthusiastic supporters at a jet hangar here. “Well, it doesn't look like it to me! And we're not!” Florida is an expensive state to campaign in and Huckabee has never had a lot of money. Major media outlets are reporting Huckabee is out of play in this state even though he’s never explicitly said he is. The...

Since his win in New Hampshire, many have come to view John McCain as the Republican frontrunner. He has a lead in the RCP national average, and he is the favorite at InTrade's future's market. I think this talk is a bit hasty. Most obviously, McCain and Romney are tied in Michigan - and the polls over the last three weeks have been largely conditioned by who has won. So, who knows how the Michigan results will influence South Carolina and the rest of the nation. There is another reason I am hesitant about this bandwagon. I think that the...

Update: (Audio) Rick Santorum makes his own case against McCain I'm swiping the bullet points of this from Mark Levin: All I can say is that McCain is basically a Democrat on every issue except foreign policy and the war. I'll also add that he should have went through with his attempt to change parties. It is no secret that John McCain has alienated true Conservatives in this country. As Mark Levin reminds us... McCain-Feingold — the most brazen frontal assault on political speech since Buckley v. Valeo. McCain-Kennedy — the most far-reaching amnesty program in American history. McCain-Lieberman —...

DES MOINES — Spurred by a recent Supreme Court decision, independent political groups are using their financial muscle and organizational clout as never before to influence the presidential race, pumping money and troops into early nominating states on behalf of their favored candidates. Iowans have been bombarded over the last few days with radio spots supporting John Edwards that were paid for by a group affiliated with locals of the Service Employees International Union, which just kicked in $800,000 — on top of $760,000 already spent. Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, rolled across Iowa on Monday in a...