Posted on 09/20/2005 6:26:24 PM PDT by wjersey
Angry over what he considers a breach of Senate courtesy by GOP leaders, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has teamed with Democrats and centrist Republicans to force the leaders to back down on an effort to undermine fundraising limits he helped make law in 2002.
With assurance from Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that he would have the Democrats’ support, McCain confronted GOP leaders in private yesterday at the Senate Republican Caucus luncheon.
At issue was a rider attached to the treasury-transportation spending bill that would have allowed lawmakers to transfer unlimited sums from their leadership political action committees to party coffers.
McCain brought his grievance with Republican leaders before his Republican colleagues and won, said a GOP lawmaker who attended the meeting. The leadership promised to give McCain a vote on stripping the rider.
The confrontation attests to McCain’s growing clout on Capitol Hill. By working with Democrats and winning the backing of a handful of Republicans, he has demonstrated that he can wrest the chamber’s agenda from the leaders. It also shows that McCain may be becoming more influential within his own caucus at a time when President Bush is struggling in the polls and the senator has emerged as a front-runner for the 2008 presidential race.
It was a dramatic turnaround from earlier in the week, when leaders decided to circumvent McCain by pulling the transportation-treasury bill from floor consideration. McCain suspected that the bill would be put into a “minibus” bill, preventing the rider from being stripped out in its own vote.
GOP leaders apparently realized yesterday that McCain had cobbled enough support to hand them an embarrassing defeat if the bill came up for consideration with the rider attached.
McCain told The Hill that he had brought the issue up at the Republican Conference meeting and was satisfied with the response, although he wouldn’t discuss details of the exchange.
“It’s the same people who have fought long against campaign-finance reform …” McCain said, “the same cast of characters.”
A GOP senator who attended yesterday’s luncheon said McCain told colleagues that he had not been given a floor vote on the campaign-finance rider, which he considered a serious discourtesy.
Campaign-finance reform was McCain’s signature issue before and shortly after running for president in 2000. He was upset that Senate leaders would try to amend one of the greatest achievements of his Senate career on an unrelated spending measure. He was irate that GOP leaders would use procedural tactics to deny him a chance to challenge the provision, said a GOP aide familiar with the matter.
“McCain was livid,” said the aide.
A spokesman for Senate Assistant Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has long opposed campaign-finance regulation and is suspected of masterminding the latest effort to water down fundraising limits, said the provision belonged to Sens. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and Bob Bennett (R-Utah). McConnell’s aide referred questions to their offices.
Bond, who is chairman of the transportation-treasury subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, confirmed that the spending bill had been pulled from the schedule. But Bond added that he did not know why.
He said that he hoped to have it scheduled for a Senate vote soon and that the matter was “something I have to talk about” with the leadership.
Bennett said he had written the rider in the Rules Committee and the provision had therefore “been approved by the authorizing committee.”
He said he had expected the transportation-treasury bill would be on the floor now. Instead, the Senate is considering the agriculture appropriations bill.
“We thought it was going before ag,” Bennett said. He added that he was not aware McCain had the votes to defeat his provision. “I haven’t taken a whip count,” he said. “I have no idea.”
Amy Call, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), said Republican leaders never made a decision on when to bring the transportation bill to the floor, despite Bennett’s understanding. She added that the bill could still make it before the end of the week.
McCain and his partner in campaign-finance reform, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), sent a letter to colleagues two weeks ago opposing the amendment.
“The bill would allow Leadership PACs controlled by Senators and Representatives to give an unlimited amount of their funds to a national party committee,” they wrote. “These funds could then be pumped back into that Member’s campaign — effectively subverting individual and PAC donor contribution limits. …
“This major change in campaign law would seriously undermine the effectiveness of longstanding contribution limits.”
I did.
I wrote in "Alice Cooper" last November.
Only one problem, I'm anti-libertarian. I seen enough here at the FR. I would never vote for one after putting up with them here.
We have to cut him off at the Primaries.
This country club senate is a delusion.
it only keeps the useful idots of the left, Mccain, in power.
McCain must go.
McCain is the most thoroughly corrupt senator in the senate.
Does anyone here doubt that if by chance McCain actually becomes the nominee that his fate would be any better, and likely a lot worse, than Dole in 1996! What a joke.
Even if you want this rider to exist, McCain is correct that you shouldn't be trying to subvert the majority vote of the Senate by slipping riders onto other bills.
I know it is how politics is done, but we should lobby our senators to vote the right way, not hope our leaders can slip things through without scrutiny.
And even if you thought this was a good idea on the merits, McCain is certainly correct that there was no way he was going to let his signature issue get amended without a vote. The leadership should have known that.
So in a sense, I blame the senate leadership for once again looking like idiots and giving McCain power they didn't need to give him.
Sounds contradictory. You oppose McCain and the Republicans he opposes? Too nuanced for my understanding.
Nor will I! I would write in Mickey Mouse first. I still think McCain shows signs of being as paranoid as "Captain Queeg" in Caine Mutiny. He is one of the most unscrupulous men to ever serve in the Senate. I'll vote, but not for McCain or Hillary -- EVER!
Nor will I. I would write in Mickey Mouse first. I still think McCain is as paranoid as "Captain Queeg" in Caine Mutiny. He is one of the most unscrupulous men in the Senate. I will vote, but not for McCain or Hillary -- EVER!
John McLame: the strawberry ice cream ball bearing rattling mad man. His slogan? "No freedom of speech for you!"
Republicans are out of control. Spending is unchecked and opposition to Republican principles is widespread. The majority party does not act like it and wayward Republicans have managed to control what the party does and stands for. That seems plain and simple to me.
"Only one problem, I'm anti-libertarian. I seen enough here at the FR. I would never vote for one after putting up with them here."
Yep, having some libertarian thoughts is a good thing - after all the country was founded on freedom and it is still our defining characteristic.
But libertarianism run rampant results in absurd conclusions on everything from the economy to the environment - I could not ever vote for the Libertarian party.
I agree with you but what seemed contradictory to me is this article was explaining how the Republicans were trying to circumvent the Campaign Finance Reform debacle sponsored by McCain. The Republican leadership seemed to be trying to do what you want in this case and you blasted them along with McCain.
No big deal. Nothing to waste more time over.
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