Posted on 04/03/2008 8:21:34 AM PDT by agenda_express
April 2, 2008 WISH TV
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) - Grammy Award-winning singer and song writer Dave Matthews will perform at Assembly Hall in Bloomington on behalf of the Barack Obama campaign.
Hundreds of students lined up outside Barack Obama's campaign office in Bloomington to get registered to vote and to get their hands on tickets to the free concert.
(Excerpt) Read more at wishtv.com ...
I am curious as to whether anyone sees this as I do - I HATE campaign finance reform, but since it was passed, I interpret this "give-away" as a direct violation of McCain Feingold. Am I reading this incorrectly?
Title III, Section 301 of "McCain Feingold http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ155.107
SEC. 301. USE OF CONTRIBUTED AMOUNTS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.
Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by striking section 313 and inserting the following:
``SEC. 313. <> USE OF CONTRIBUTED AMOUNTS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.
``(a) Permitted Uses.--A contribution accepted by a candidate, and any other donation received by an individual as support for activities of the individual as a holder of Federal office, may be used by the candidate or individual-- ``(1) for otherwise authorized expenditures in connection with the campaign for Federal office of the candidate or individual; ``(2) for ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in connection with duties of the individual as a holder of Federal office; ``(3) for contributions to an organization described in section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or ``(4) for transfers, without limitation, to a national, State, or local committee of a political party.
``(b) Prohibited Use.-- ``(1) In general.--A contribution or donation described in subsection (a) shall not be converted by any person to personal use. ``(2) Conversion.--For the purposes of paragraph (1), a contribution or donation shall be considered to be converted to personal use if the contribution or amount is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense of a person that would exist irrespective of the candidate's election campaign or individual's duties as a holder of Federal office, including-- ``(A) a home mortgage, rent, or utility payment; ``(B) a clothing purchase; ``(C) a noncampaign-related automobile expense; ``(D) a country club membership; ``(E) a vacation or other noncampaign-related trip; ``(F) a household food item; ``(G) a tuition payment; ``(H) admission to a sporting event, concert, theater, or other form of entertainment not associated with an election campaign; and ``(I) dues, fees, and other payments to a health club or recreational facility.''.
I am more concerned that Dave Matthews will park his tour bus on an overpass and dump the raw sewage onto coming traffic as he did a few months ago.
I don't really like Matthews music so am I biased?
Obama party...woo-hoo!!!!
Actually the bus was on a steel "grate" bridge over the Chicago River. The victims were sightseers, lounging and looking upward, on the upper deck of the Chicago Architectural Society's river cruise tour boat (a pretty upper crust crowd).
However, the ignoramus still broke the law.
There are plenty of dump stations so there is no excuse for Matthews stupid behavior.
“I am curious as to whether anyone sees this as I do - I HATE campaign finance reform, but since it was passed, I interpret this “give-away” as a direct violation of McCain Feingold. Am I reading this incorrectly?”
Since when do Dems follow the rules on anything?
They are only written to govern Republicans/conservatives.
It is something worth looking into and sending to the Hillary campaign so they could file an FEC complaint.
Typical Liberal P*ssy tactics: Buy the Dunderheads votes.
Doesn’t seem okay to me, but it is Obama, so it really doesn’t matter.
The bigger mystery, even while I was in college: Why do college Students like Dave Matthews so much, his music is aweful to me!
It’s the Space Between their precious lives... >Bo)
This might be a violation of vote-buying laws, that may be worth a look.
Here you go - Class D Felony in Indiana:
IC 3-14-3-19
Inducing votes by gift or offer to compensate
Sec. 19. A person who, for the purpose of inducing or procuring another person to:
(1) apply for or cast an absentee ballot; or
(2) vote or refrain from voting for or against a candidate or for or against a public question at an election or political convention;
gives, offers, or promises to any person any money or other property commits a Class D felony.
As added by P.L.5-1986, SEC.10. Amended by P.L.3-1987, SEC.482; P.L.103-2005, SEC.37.
Interesting. I may check some case law on that if I have time.
This might have some bearing on the case law and elements of the Class D felony.
There are plenty of dump stations so there is no excuse for Matthews stupid behavior.
Amen, NO excuses whatsoever! However, having said that, it's only fair to point out that Matthews himself was not on the bus at the time.
I think the campaign finance sections need a closer look however. One doesn't have to be as blatant of an “influencer” to get nailed there due to the zillions of technicalities involved in that convoluted monstrosity.
Heck, why not just give ‘em all the licker and beer they want just before they vote.
The thing I see in that statute is that the action or agreement of the recipient of the money or other property is not an element of the crime, only the intended purpose of the person offering it.
That would be kind of hard to prosecute if there wasn’t an agreement or contract I suppose, since you’d be trying to prosecute based on the state of mind of the defendant and what their “purpose” was in offering the property, but that doesn’t stop “hate crime” prosecutors.
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