I like Fred. But after looking at his voting record I find a few disturbing things. One of the main ones is his support for McCain-Feingold.
Any Fredheads care to explain his vote? Has he changed his mind?
Fred said that he thought the notion of taking money out of politics was a good one, but in hindsight his support was wrong.
He’s publicly renounced Mc-F. Says he thought it was a good idea at the time, but it turned out to be a bad idea and it needs to go away.
Thompson Floor Speed on CFR
http://web.archive.org/web/20020825004251/thompson.senate.gov/press/2001/speeches/fs032701.html
Thompson has been rooting out corruption for his entire career. It is no wonder after seeing the campaign finance trickery during his hearings that he decided something should be done.
I don’t have a problem with the money limits, only the blackout periods, which I believe Fred has said are wrong and he would support a repeal. I don’t have a source for that, it happened recently, and I missed the interview.
Fred has said that he doesn’t like the way McCain Feingold was put into practice. He actually argued against some of the things they had wanted to do at the time. His impetus at the time was to get the big, anonymous money out of politics. He is in favor of raising the amount that individuals can give, and also in favor of complete transparency in fundraising for politicians. He thinks that everyone should know just who is putting up money for candidates.