Campaign Finance and the 5th Estate

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle says he is prepared to force the bill to the floor sometime before the March 22 recess. In order to delay or stop the legislation's final passage, Daschle says that he'll utilize all-night sessions to compel opponents to resort to a filibuster.

Proponents of campaign finance reform believe they have the 60 votes necessary to stop a filibuster. Conventional wisdom in the beltway predicts that something very close to the House version of the bill will pass and be sent to the president.

Political gamesmanship aside, one thing is for certain. The debate over how to improve the elective process is going to continue.

Campaign finance reform is about power. Legislating in this realm inevitably causes a shift of power to occur. But where does the power go?

Critics of the Shays-Meehan and the McCain-Feingold bills have generally focused attention on two beneficiaries of this shift of power: incumbents and the news media.

But another group is poised to gain tremendous influence over the election process if the legislation becomes law. And that's the entertainment media, the group that this writer has dubbed the "Fifth Estate."

Hollywood's influence on politics has grown quite large and a number of celebrities have become activists. A perfect example of celebrity impact on politics occurred recently in Florida.

Gov. Jeb Bush was commenting on actor Alec Baldwin's visit to Tallahassee. The Florida governor quipped to reporters that Baldwin "had promised he would leave the country if my brother got elected. Well, he's back, I guess. We'll welcome him to Tallahassee." Baldwin responded by saying, "I never made that statement, but you can tell Gov. Bush to rest assured that I'm not going to leave the country, because we have to get him out of office and we have to get his brother out of office in 2004."

There are a few more details about Baldwin's visit that deserve airing. Baldwin was in Tallahassee as a board member of the non-profit organization People for the American Way (PFAW). He was there to promote election reform.

PFAW finances its activities with tax-deductible contributions. Florida has a primary campaign in progress and a general election looming. A statement that specifically recommends the removal of a candidate from office is inappropriate and may even be illegal for a non-partisan, non-profit organization such as PFAW to utter.

The remark "we have to get him [Gov. Jeb Bush] out of office" is an explicit campaign statement. Predictably, the statement bounced out of every news media outlet, as most celebrity comments do, merely because of their star connection.

In addition, celebrity status has tremendous dollar value. By limiting the ability of ordinary spokespeople to respond, those without fame are put at a serious disadvantage.

Of course, Hollywood celebrities are happy to have such power at their disposal. They can direct the equivalent of millions of dollars' worth of "soft money" publicity to the candidates of their choice.

Meanwhile, grassroots organizations are muzzled by new restrictions imposed in the name of reform. This is because of a provision of the legislation that prevents certain political broadcast advertising in the 60 days prior to an election.

Last year an organization called The Creative Coalition sent a petition to every member of the U.S. Senate to promote campaign finance reform. The Creative Coalition is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate arts and entertainment industry leaders on public policy issues. Alec Baldwin's brother, William, is the current chairman.

In the organization's petition, over 70 artists and entertainers pledged to "not raise money for, contribute money to, or have their names used in connection with the raising of money for the campaign of any candidate for federal office who does not embrace the McCain-Feingold principles."

A tactic such as this could aptly be called campaign finance extortion. Those who seek to improve the ethics, accountability and participation of ordinary citizens in the campaign process need to take another look at the inequalities and illegalities that are inherent in the legislation of their making.

President Bush also needs to reassess his duty when the bill arrives at the White House door. This would be a good time to use a little of his political capital.

If the president is to honor his oath of office, only one course of action is acceptable – a gratifying, constitutional and expeditious veto that surpasses any triangulating or hedging on the issue.

You know what I think of this swindle:

Silence, America!:

Silence, America!: for Silence, America!.

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A further Mini-Editorial!

Folks, these clowns, corrupters, and frauds in Congress are trying to silence YOU!

Wake up, doggone it!

Rush and Hannity and all the hosts in the world can inveigh against this garbage day and night, but unless you actually do something about it, it will not matter one tiny iota!

Now is the time! If not now, when? When they arrest your wife or kids for "improper speech?"

Get off your rear ends and send some emails and faxes. Write letters, especially letters to editors.

Call talk shows- the local ones are easy to get on and reach a lot more people than you may realize.

This- right here, this "issue"- is where the rubber meets the road...

There are over 70,000 members here, and I know each of you knows at least two or three more people you can tell about this-- so do it! Now!

And tell them to tell 2 more people, and tell them to "pass this on to 2 more..."

The right to speak freely is as fundamental to a free society as the right to defend yourself against unprovoked attack. This is a frontal assault on your liberty and the freedom of your children and spouse.

It's time to move out, folks- march, or die....

Here's a Note to Activists:

Want to do something? Go here:

Ignorance Making You Ill? Cure It!

for links, tools, & instructions about how to contact a pile of different people, and how to send a link to this story right here ( or anywhere else ) to a "mass email" using Outlook Express.

I say again, people- it's time to speak up- or be forever silenced!

A further aid for activists:

Sorry for the difficulties some of you experienced yesterday in reaching the
> web site to send out the 100 faxes to all 100 U.S. Senators through Sixty
> Second Activist. The URL was so long it sometimes jumped to a second line
> in the transmission, thus breaking the link. Here's a shorter link that
> should take you to where you need to go:
>
> https://secure.chargedcontribution.com/ATA_60s_Shays-Meehan2/gopnv.asp
> ( this link, while not free, allows you to send faxes to 100 senators for $21.... )

I say one last time- speak up now, or be forever silenced!

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