BUYING 'REFORM' (Campaign Finance Reform Scam)

New York Post ^ | March 17,2004 | Ryan Sager

[oldtimer2]

CAMPAIGN-FINANCE reform has been an immense scam perpetrated on the American people by a cadre of left-wing foundations and disguised as a "mass movement."

But don't take my word for it. One of the chief scammers, Sean Treglia, a former program officer of the Pew Charitable Trusts, confesses it all in an astonishing videotape I obtained earlier this week. This is an amazing story. I combined part of Ryan Sager's editorial and the transcript of the tape.

The tape — of a conference held at USC's Annenberg School for Communication in March of 2004 — shows Treglia expounding to a gathering of academics, experts and journalists (none of whom, apparently, ever wrote about Treglia's remarks) on just how Pew and other left-wing foundations plotted to create a fake grassroots movement to hoodwink Congress.

"I'm going to tell you a story that I've never told any reporter," Treglia says on the tape. "Now that I'm several months away from Pew and we have campaign-finance reform, I can tell this story."

That story in brief: Charged with promoting campaign-finance reform when he joined Pew in the mid-1990s, Treglia came up with a three-pronged strategy: 1) pursue an expansive agenda through incremental reforms, 2) pay for a handful of "experts" all over the country with foundation money and 3) create fake business, minority and religious groups to pound the table for reform.

"The target audience for all this activity was 535 people in Washington," Treglia says — 100 in the Senate, 435 in the House. "The idea was to create an impression that a mass movement was afoot — that everywhere they looked, in academic institutions, in the business community, in religious groups, in ethnic groups, everywhere, people were talking about reform."

[Bob J]

Well, then you can be a C-4 (like the FR Network) but donations are not tax deductable.

[Gabz]

I wasn't on the BOD when they opted for the C-3

So when I do public advocacy, I opt to use my membership in one of the other orgs I belong to that don't have the c-3 designation.

Though I have never had a problem with it when doing interviews.........weird.

[Eva]

I'm glad to see that someone posted this, let's not let it die. I suggest that someone post the partial transcript that is linked at the bottom of the article. This is too good to miss. I can't wait to ask John McCain about this.

[Eva]

I just emailed John McCain and asked him if he had been scammed or if he was part of the scam. We own a house in AZ, so I usually get answers. I'll let you know what he says.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

"If you look at the Supreme Court decision, you will see that almost half of the footnotes relied on by the Supreme Court in upholding the law are research funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts."

Now that the cat is out of the bag, it is time for the Congress and President Bush to fix their monumentally destructive screwup. CFR was a blatantly unconstitutional power grab by congress (mostly to benefit the senate), and now we see that it was also a massive fraud perpetrated on WE THE POEPLE and the congress.

I can understand McCain pushing for it (he's a serpent). I cannot understand Bush signing it. What could he have been thinking? Or is he in on the game too?

We need a do-over on this mess ASAP. Folks should start pestering their congress critters 24x7. If need be, we need demonstrations in DC. This is as serious an assault on the Bill of Rights that I have seen in my lifetime. Having this gain, the cabal (with their lapdog McCain in tow) are already going after their next targets: talk radio and the blogosphere. There is far too much free speeching going on for their liking. We need to fight back, starting with reversing our last defeat.

What the hell is the congress doing debating steroid use in baseball when we have problems like this and border control to deal with? It's like living a Kafkaesque nightmare.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

"If you look at the Supreme Court decision, you will see that almost half of the footnotes relied on by the Supreme Court in upholding the law are research funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts."

Now that the cat is out of the bag, it is time for the Congress and President Bush to fix their monumentally destructive screwup. CFR was a blatantly unconstitutional power grab by congress (mostly to benefit the senate), and now we see that it was also a massive fraud perpetrated on WE THE POEPLE and the congress.

I can understand McCain pushing for it (he's a serpent). I cannot understand Bush signing it. What could he have been thinking? Or is he in on the game too?

We need a do-over on this mess ASAP. Folks should start pestering their congress critters 24x7. If need be, we need demonstrations in DC. This is as serious an assault on the Bill of Rights that I have seen in my lifetime. Having this gain, the cabal (with their lapdog McCain in tow) are already going after their next targets: talk radio and the blogosphere. There is far too much free speeching going on for their liking. We need to fight back, starting with reversing our last defeat.

What the hell is the congress doing debating steroid use in baseball when we have problems like this and border control to deal with? It's like living a Kafkaesque nightmare.

[Eva]

Bush signed CFR because he was assured by his advisors that it would overturned by the courts, that it had no chance of standing. They were wrong.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

I believe that. IMO he screwed up. Just like the congress screwed up. so it's time for President Bush and the congress to fix their mutual screwup. And I hope Bush learned a lesson here: Honoring the oath to uphold the Constitution is absolute. No political expediency. No passing the buck. Do the job. Honor the oath. Or resign.

[Eva]

Someone needs to make sure that Rush sees this. I don't have his email address.

[potlatch]

THANKS, THANKS, THANKS!

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

"three-pronged strategy: 1) pursue an expansive agenda through incremental reforms, 2) pay for a handful of "experts" all over the country with foundation money and 3) create fake business, minority and religious groups to pound the table for reform."



BTTT

[patj]

In September of 2000, less than two years before the passage of McCain-Feingold, the liberal magazine The American Prospect put out a special issue devoted to campaign-finance reform. It was called, "Checkbook Democracy." And it was bought and paid for with a $132,000 check from the liberal Carnegie Corporation of New York,

Geez, and where is the outrage ala Armstrong Williams?

[OESY]

I just emailed John McCain and asked him if he had been scammed or if he was part of the scam. We own a house in AZ, so I usually get answers. I'll let you know what he says.

A commendable move. I'd be interested in McCain's answer, as well as his stand on possible FEC attempts to restrict bloggers who would advocate for one candidate or another. On such grounds, how could he possibly contemplate exempting the Old Media?

[AFPhys]

I think that is only partly true. I believe that President Bush made a campaign promise that he would sign CFR legislation that made it to his desk, and he has a habit of keeping his campaign promises. In this case, the bill that came out of Congress did not have the provisions he was hoping for (two notables he was asking: a report within 48hrs posted on the 'net of all donations to any campaigning group - like Moveon, etc., and no '60day' restriction) but he chose to honor his campaign promise.

[robomurph]

My concern is that McCain will use Soros $ and the “Shadow Party” organizations to win the “Money Primary” that will occur over the next 20 months. This will give him front runner status prior to the actual nomination contest. He can then “Straight Talk” it through New Hampshire and Iowa with media support. At that point he would be hard to stop.

[robomurph]

McCain's Reform Institute

Donations above $50,000

Carnegie Corporation of New York

Chartwell Charitable Foundation

CSC Holdings, Inc.

Echosphere

The Educational Foundation of America

Mr. Jerome Kohlberg, Jr. Revocable Trust

McMullen Family Foundation

OSI Constitution & Legal Policy Program

Proteus Fund

Mr. Charles H. Spaulding

Stuart Family Foundation

Tides Foundation

[robomurph]

Reform Institute Government & Politics Advisory Board

Arianna Huffington

[rmlew]

The conspiracy behind "Campaign finance reform"

[Bogolyubski]

Which is of course why Bush promised to close the "loopholes" in McCain-Feingold when the MSM questioned him about the SwiftBoat Vet ads. Wake up. Bush signed the law - a law that did not enjoy any sort of widespread support among the voting public. He could have easily vetoed this law. No one except the MSM and leftists would have cared.

That leaves two choices: 1) Bush is an idiot just like the MSM say he is, a moronic smiling cokehead chimp who does whatever his masters tell him to; or 2) He's in on the whole deal and fully supports the destruction of the 1st amendment wrought by Soros' little sock-puppet McCain.

Here's my bet: McCain and his fellow Sorosites (there are a number, bought and paid for and from both parties) will amend the law so as to close those annoying loopholes (like the SwiftVets, the Internet, etc.). It will pass with the quiet strongarming of our fearless Republican "leaders" in Congress, and George W. Bush will sign it - in yet another brilliant, Machiavellian "strateeegeree." Mullahette Sandra "Dim Bulb" O'Connor of the Imperial Magisterium will declare the new leglislation perfectly constitutional (the thus plunge the final, fatal knife into the heart of the 1st amendment) - and the "conservatives" will all cheer.

[Eva]

I can tell by your rote recital of the leftist description of Bush that you probably don't approve of much that Bush does and nothing would change your mind.