No laziness here, FDT was a dynamo of activity when it came to defending speech restrictions.
He also voted against a McCain Amendment 2294 to increase disclosure requirements.
Go Fred Go!
ping
But Mr. Bopp will also have to take any "he's a biased commentator" hits he has coming to him based on this:
He also serves as Special Advisor for Life Issues for the Romney for President campaign.
No laziness here, FDT was a dynamo of activity when it came to defending speech restrictions.
“Senator Thompson responded that he “didn’t think it is a good idea” for corporations and labor union to give “large sums of money to individual politicians.”
I believe Fred was attempting to do away with the legal bribary of soft money and the bogus “issue ads” but, as usual, they went too far.
BTW, the author is not exactly non-biased as a Rommney aide.
Almost more than any other legislation that affected their particular area of focus, premiere pro-Gun groups like the NRA and pro-life groups like the National Right to Life strongly opposed the McCain-Feingold-Thompson CFR legislation. Most such groups actually include the CFR votes in their report cards for Congressman at that time along with their interest areas. A vote for CFR resulted in a huge hit from the NRA and NRLC and other such groups against the records of any Congressman that voted for it or supported it. And I doubt that they will soon forget this. Thompson is going to have an uphill battle trying to get support from or an endorsement from such groups.
Does McCain have a small part of his speech devoted to ‘straight talk’? When you’re a Presidential candidate, everything you say should be straight talk. There shouldn’t be any tip-toeing around any issue. They should give you a straight answer.
Sorry all the candidates have “black marks” against them and this one is one of Fred’s. No human is perfect and voting is always a matter of setting priorities, picking the lesser of evils and going with the candidate one thinks is the best for the country and has a chance of winning. If he had a change or heart or things didn’t work the way he thought - fine. It’s not like other candidates haven’t said that too. It just has to be weighed with all the other stuff about all the other candidates.
I’m not fond of policy wonks, but he’s a little too lightweight even for me.
Been discussed...try a new song, Pissant.
There are 2 issues FT needs to explain for my support..........their initials are both CFR.
How many FDT supporters post negative articles about Duncan Hunter?
Ya’ think?
Romney: Ban PACs, Tax Campaign Contributions
A history of support for Campaign Finance Reform
McLean, VA - Until he started running for President, Mitt Romney had a long history of supporting campaign finance reform and restrictions even more stringent than McCain-Feingold legislation.
FACT: Romney SUPPORTED banning Political Action Committees
Romney SUPPORTED a ten percent tax on campaign contributions
Romney SUPPORTED capping campaign spending on congressional elections
Supported Banning PACs
“These kinds of associations between money and politics in my view are wrong. And for that reason, I would like to have campaign spending limits...I also would abolish PACS...I don’t like the influence of money, whether it’s business, labor or any other group, I do not like that kind of influence.” (Mitt Romney for Senate Press Conference Video 1994, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM0x8WnI4to)
Supported Taxing Campaign Contributions
“Massachusetts Romney called for spending limits on candidates and a 10 percent tax on campaign contributions for state elections to finance publicly funded campaigns.”(Editorial, “Campaign Finance Flip,” Washington Post, 5/26/07).
Supported Capping Spending on Congressional Elections
“Romney also said he advocates spending limits on congressional elections, even suggesting that the current race against Sen. Edward M. Kennedy should have a $6 million spending cap...”
(Frank Phillips, “Romney, Vowing To Live It, Touts Congress Reform Plan,” The Boston Globe, 7/7/94)
When McCain Campaigned For Romney In 2002, Romney Praised McCain For Standing For “Reform And Change” Saying “Those Are My Values.”
“Romney also praised McCain for his general reform campaign when the Arizona senator came to Massachusetts to stump with Romney just before Romney’s 2002 election victory in the governor’s race. ‘He has always stood for reform and change. And he’s always fought the good battle, no matter what the odds,’ Romney said at the time. ‘Those are my values.’” (Eric Moskowitz, “Romney, McCain Spar On Campaign Finance,” Concord Monitor, 4/27/07)
In fact, Romney’s proposals were even more stringent than what was included in McCain’s legislation.
“Back then [since his days as a Senate and gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts], Romney advocated more stringent measures than McCain-Feingold ultimately included, such as a spending limit for federal elections and a tax on political contributions.” (Eric Moskowitz, “Romney, McCain Spar On Campaign Finance,” Concord Monitor, 4/27/07)
http://web.archive.org/web/20021031004411/thompson.senate.gov/press/2001/releases/pr040201.html
April 2, 2001
THOMPSON LAUDS PASSAGE OF McCAIN-FEINGOLD CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM LEGISLATION
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) today lauded Senate passage of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation, which passed the Senate by a 59-41 vote.
The bill bans soft money contributions, restricts corporate and union spending on campaign ads, and provides greater disclosure and stronger election laws.
“This is a good day for the United States Senate. It demonstrates once again that this body can respond to a demonstrated public need,” said Thompson, an original co-sponsor of the McCain- Feingold bill and a supporter of the legislation since 1995.
“The McCain-Feingold bill will restore a campaign finance system that has become more loophole than law,” Senator Thompson added. “We will once again ensure that unlimited corporate, union, and individual funds will not compromise the integrity of the political process.”
During debate on the bill last week, the Senate approved two amendments sponsored by Senator Thompson. A Thompson-Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) amendment increased the individual hard money limits on contributions to candidates from $1,000 to $2,000. It also increased several other hard money limits and indexed their future growth to inflation.
“But for the willingness of Senator Thompson and Senator Feinstein to find common ground on the issue of increasing (hard) money limits, I fear our efforts would have proved as futile as they have in the past,” Senator McCain said on the Senate floor prior to the vote on final passage.
The Senate also approved a Thompson-Joe Lieberman (D-CT) amendment which will strengthen the enforcement of our federal election laws by increasing penalties for campaign finance violations. “The blatant and widespread abuses in the 1996 campaign fundraising scandal clearly necessitate better enforcement if we are to avoid a repeat of those violations in future campaigns,” Thompson said.
The McCain-Feingold bill will now be considered by the House of Representatives.
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http://web.archive.org/web/20021027034622/thompson.senate.gov/press/2002/releases/pr032702.html
March 27, 2002
Thompson Lauds Signing of Historic Campaign Finance Reform Bill
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) today lauded final approval of historic campaign finance reform legislation as President Bush signed the bill into law.
Thompson said, “I want to applaud President Bush for showing both foresight and courage in signing a bill that will help to restore confidence in our electoral system and reduce cynicism among the American people. This is a major step toward changing the way we do business here in Washington.”
The bill bans unlimited, unregulated soft money contributions and increases the limited, regulated, fully disclosed hard money contribution limits to help challengers and to combat the increasing presence of special interest groups in political campaigns. Thompson was the first Republican Senator other than John McCain to support the bill in 1995 and has been working for its passage ever since.
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Fred is a good guy and I'll gladly vote for him if he gets the nomination.
Having said that, the politicians all claim they want to get the big money out of politics, why don't they do what they do best, tax all political contributions over $200 at 95 ~ 99 percent?
That would get the big money out of politics and raise money for the insatiable government at the same time.
The author is on Romney’s staff. Just another hit piece. Too bad its not working, with Mitt now in the single digits in many states.
Thompson supported something he thought was a good idea at the time, and changed his mind after he saw that it didn’t work as intended. And the whole bill was written in the first place to combat Clintonian tactics.
Even though interest groups are precluded from advertising within a certain time frame before an election, individuals can still express their opinions any time they want. Even as late as the day of the election, folks can stand the requisite distance from the polling place, holding a sign promoting their candidate for all to see on the way in to vote.