Posted on 10/09/2004 2:15:36 PM PDT by Oakleaf
Everyone Was Wrong About McCain-Feingold! We all missed a giant loophole in the law.
I was wrong about the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law. The New York Times was wrong. Peter Beinart was wrong. And E. J. Dionne was wrong, too!
We all missed an important wrinkle in the new law—important because understanding it reveals a gaping hole in the bill, a hole the bill's legal defenders (if you ask them) freely admit exists.
Necessary background: Along with many others, I criticized McCain-Feingold for banning last-minute TV and radio ads sponsored by nonprofit advocacy groups even when those ads were paid for by individual citizens (and not by profit-making corporations or unions). This ban, it seemed to me, violated the principle—embodied in the Supreme Court's key Buckley v. Valeo ruling—that American citizens should be free to band together and spend their own money saying what they think about politicians when it matters most (i.e., just before an election).
It might be OK to restrict spending by corporations and unions, in this view. It might be OK to limit contributions to the campaigns of candidates. But if you want to spend your own money, independent of a candidate's campaign, to express your views—well, it's a free country. Or should be.
Here's the wrinkle: It turns out the new law's ban on last-minute ads only applies to corporations. True, most nonprofit "advocacy" groups—such as the Sierra Club and the ACLU—are corporations. But (and this is the point I didn't understand) they don't have to be. It's perfectly possible to form a simple unincorporated association and still get nonprofit tax status. (You just have to show that your articles and bylaws meet IRS requirements.) And if you're not incorporated, then McCain-Feingold's ad ban doesn't apply.
Article URL: http://slate.msn.com/id/2064730/
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.msn.com ...
I also called the FEC and asked about citizen ads on the Web. The polite Federale there said that any citizen can advertise for any candidate in any election on the Web within the 60 day limit. The only provisio is that you, as "Any Other Person" have to file a FEC From 5 if you spend more than $250 in a given election year. (See http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/indexp.htm and also http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/elctioneering.htm).
It seems then that one could still a) set up a website for Bush/Cheney, for your state Senate or Houre race or for State races and promote those candidates until the election and b) an UNincorporated association MIGHT be able to get MSM ads.
Does anyone know if I've got this right? Has anyone confirmed this or done this?
Houre should be House! (Arrrggh...).
That is correct. And, I have GOOD ads ready to go if anyone wants to help out with $:
http://www.naspino.com/media/
Ignore ad#7 -- it's out of date. The rest are all good.
Nobody overlooked this. It has been obvious since the very start.
I'm submitting this to One Who Knows A Boatload
CBB? is this article on the square?
Another apparent loophole is the "qualified nonprofit corporation" or MCFL type, see www.nrlc.org/news/2004/NRL01/prolife_challenge.htm. This is really complicated and will probably require a passel of lawyers to make sure you're okay but it also looks interesting for 501(c)(4) groups.
LOL!!!
if I can make it (or the frames for it - that I can do) can you (animate it if need be and) get it "out there"?
It wasn't obvious to me. I just found out about this and thought it would be helpful to spread the word, maybe someone can make use of this info in the next weeks.
*nod* Someone might.
So it can truly be said that nobody, including the FEC, knows for sure what is constitutional (or not) in this area.
Since I have been committed for months to run TV ads here in North Carolina to stick a thumb in the eye of the FEC, I intend to do exactly that. Starting a week from now. Click the SECOND link below for information on that.
Congressman Billybob
Latest column, "America Fails the 'Global Test' "
If you haven't already joined the anti-CFR effort, please click here.
Billybob
thanks!
Congressman Billybob
Whew! This is why I love this place (I lurked since about 99 before I joined). Thanks for your information and best of luck!
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