Supreme Court Handing Down Ruling in Campaign Finance Reform (main parts upheld)

FOX News | 10 Dec 2003 | FOX News

[Captain Kirk]

I didn't put any words in your mouth, just stated the obvious. If Dubya knows that you will vote for him come hell or highwater, he can safely ignore any criticism from you. After all, there are *no* consequences to blowing you off. Heh, if it makes you feel empowered to believe otherwise, feel free to do so.

Politicians only respect one thing: votes. If they can take you for granted, they will.

[Constitution Day]

This portion of the Thomas dissent would make a great tagline.

Wouldn't it ever!
Alas, it's a bit long.

[Dan from Michigan]

This does not apply to you personally, only your issue advocacy group. Anyone here can still walk into a TV station, cut a check from their personal funds and run an attack ad.

It's a little different if you work in an issue advocacy department like I did in the 02 races......

[Sabertooth]

If Pres Bush had vetoed this bill the outcry would have far exceeded any possible gain.

From whom?

In election after election the Democrats never got any traction on CFR. It was a fantasy of the Beltway, the Left, and the Media. That's it.

There would have been no political cost to this veto had the President used it here.

The SCOTUS is out of control. They've been happy to fabricate rationalizations for amending the Constitution on a range of matters, including free speech and the First Amendment, for years. Most campaign finance laws are upheld.

President Bush had an obligation to the Constitution to veto this bill.

[goldstategop]

You understood it too well. And some Freepers still think nothing is wrong with the country cause they have the shades on their train car pulled down and so can't see for the life of them its moving in the wrong direction.

[Hank Rearden]

Our best chance to stop this is to re-elect the people who did it???

Very well put. No way in hell Bush Jr. gets a vote from me. Between crap like this and his massive growth of Big Stupid Republican Government, he deserves the ashheap of history too.

[NittanyLion]

I warned people when Bush first signed this that SCOTUS was too unreliable to depend on them doing the right thing. Bush gambled that someone else would bail him out, and he lost big time.

What a disgrace.

[finnman69]

Wednesday, March 27, 2002

WASHINGTON — President Bush signed the campaign finance reform bill into law in the Oval Office Wednesday without fanfare, but opponents of the measures immediately made hay of it by filing suit declaring the bill unconstitutional.

"I believe that this legislation, although far from perfect, will improve the current financing system for federal campaigns," Bush said in a written statement, pointing out several flaws in the bill.

"I believe individual freedom to participate in elections should be expanded, not diminished; and when individual freedoms are restricted, questions arise under the First Amendment. I also have reservations about the constitutionality of the broad ban on issue advertising... I expect that the courts will resolve these legitimate legal questions as appropriate under the law," he said.

[vbmoneyspender]

Some of the people on this site would only consider Free Speech to be harmed if a law was passed ordering the mouths to be permanently shut with duct tape or otherwise. Then again, maybe I am just in the anarchistic contingent that includes Justice Thomas, Justice Scalia and Justice Rehnquist.

[Protagoras]

You will be waiting longer than you have left. But nice try at changing the subject, it didn't work however.

The abject failure of this President to uphold his oath to defend the constitution should make you see the truth about these guys. But it doesn't because you now find yourself on the same side as Dane, I guess you always were.

[Mo1]

I didn't put any words in your mouth, just stated the obvious. If Dubya knows that you will vote for him come hell or highwater, he can safely ignore any criticism from you. After all, there are *no* consequences to blowing you off. Heh, if it makes you feel empowered to believe otherwise, feel free to do so.

Gee .. I don't recall saying all of that ..

Nice try

[July 4th]

Very true! Under BCRA, and inkling of coordination gets nailed.

[Howlin]

He's surely got my vote!

[spunkets]

"As long as Congress isn't too blatant about it, it can gag the rest of the country any way it likes."

The frog doesn't notice the temps. going up.

[Law]

Not that I'm defending this total piece of crap from the court, but the decision only affects groups, not you personally.

That deserved big bold lettering. People's freedom of speech have not been stopped by this bill -- never was and never will be. Like you said, they can write any amount of check they want to buy an add.

I don't recall any individual exception to the BCRA speech ban. And if individuals are exempt, why would Soros donate $10 million to a group he doesn't control rather than produce and pay for his own ads? The same applies to the Hollywood donors to Ickes' media fund.

[jeremiah]

How do you figure he f'ed up? Bush likes the bill he signed, or he wouldn't have signed it. He agrees with the provisions within it. Never ever listen to the words of politicians, watch what they do and judge that only. Words are for twisting, politicians by definition are liars, like lawyers and car salesmen.

[goodnesswins]

place setting....till I return.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

The problem with too many Republicans is that they define incrementalism by the same yardstick the Democrats do: incremental victories for the Left.

Just damn.

[NittanyLion]

President Bush had an obligation to the Constitution to veto this bill.

Yep. Of course, FreeRepublic's resident experts assured me SCOTUS would strike the bad parts down, even as I claimed SCOTUS was too unpredictable to make that assertion.

Bush gambled, and lost.

[GeronL]

The ruling is crazy. I expect these rulings to continue to desecrate the Constitution