Posted on 03/18/2002 3:25:16 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Top Republican aides predicted Monday that an expected parliamentary fight over a campaign finance bill opposed by most Republicans as unconstitutional would be "anti-climatic."
"I expect that the bill will receive a cloture vote on Wednesday and be voted into law on Thursday," said a top Republican aide. "The horrible fight everyone expects will probably be anti-climatic."
The Republican leadership in the Senate strongly opposes the bill, which would ban unregulated donations to political parties and limit issue advertising before elections. It had threatened to filibuster the bill. But GOP aides said Monday that the bill would pass and that there might be few members willing to delay the inevitable.
Senate plurality leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said Friday that any attempt by the Republicans to delay the campaign finance vote would result in the Senate "working around the clock." Democrats then arranged a photo opportunity of cots and mattresses being delivered to the Capitol so that senators could take naps during the non-stop debate. Republican aides dismissed the move as unnecessary.
"I think Daschle is grandstanding on this one," the senior GOP aide said. "He knows that we won't need any cots."
Although the campaign finance bill - introduced and supported by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russ Feingold, D-Wis. - has the simple majority votes needed for passage, any bill in the Senate needs 60 votes to end debate, or it can be filibustered. Current vote counts put the number of senators willing to vote to end debate at about 60, leaving passage virtually assured, according to aides from both parties. But according to Senate rules, a vote to end debate is usually followed by 30 hours of final debate. Daschle has said he would be willing to keep the Senate in session nonstop if Republicans did not agree to waive the 30 hours. Several aides to Republican senators said that such a maneuver, though possible, seemed unlikely.
Payback for Pickering? Don't Be on It
But one aide did warn that the Senate Judiciary Committee's refusal last week to let the full Senate vote on District Judge Charles Pickering, a close friend of Republican Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., had caused a lot of tension between the leadership of both parties that could explode. The aide also said that no behind-the-scenes discussions between the parties to relieve the tension had taken place.
"We ain't talking," he said.
The Senate passed its original version of McCain-Feingold last year 59 to 41, but several senators who voted against the measure said they would vote for cloture. The Senate will consider a new version of that bill that passed the House in February and expects not to consider amendments to that bill, according to staff with the Democrat leadership.
Any amendment would force the bill to go to a bipartisan, bicameral conference committee, where Republicans would get another shot at defeating or changing the legislation.
Although he has expressed concerns about a ban on "soft-money" donations to political parties, President Bush has indicated that he will sign McCain-Feingold if it passes Congress.
That's pretty much what I told 'em when they called this weekend. After the Republican House passed CFR, and the Republicans in the Senate appear to be rolling over for it, and they expect me to send them money. I don't think so.
He could be the next Supreme Court justice
My husband read this one early in the morning -- I suggest you make a double batch of soup, put some away in the freezer for future use.
Given the subject matter, do you see how contradictory your statement is?
I have been combing over this bill for the last two days and I think there are some really good things in there that the GOP has done. The one blatant violation of free speech is the electioneering portion and that is the portion most likely to be found unconstitutional so it will be a moot point. That part of the bill also covers a wide range of exceptions that pretty much ties the hands of direct party participation in the 60 day window before elections but it does not appear to restrict non-party affiliated groups from running ads.
The first of the good parts are the limits on soft money from both big business and labor. That is a double + for conservatives. While it is true that Business donates 70% of their money to the GOP, they also cover their bets by giving the dems the other 30%. The Unions and Hollyweird give 95% of their donations to democrats so that has always been a net advantage to the democrats.
The GOP has always had the edge in hard money donations and now those limits are being doubled, a substantial net gain for the conservatives. The foreign money donation loopholes are severely reduced or eliminated with this bill.
I don’t believe that any democrat in the congress really wants this bill signed into law since, overall, the bill is better for the GOP than for them. I think that is why they put the “electioneering “portion into the bill in the first place. They are gambling that Bush vetoes the bill and they get to keep their beloved soft money plus get an issue in 2004. However if Bush signs it and that portion is struck down, they are stuck with essentially a net gain for the GOP. This could explain why Mitch McConnell is so quiet about this right now. If anyone thinks that McConnell is in favor of CFR has not been paying attention.
However, I see that this "Republicans will cave" theoroy is derived from the statements of ONE Republican aide. Which person would he be the aide for...John McCain?
The media is exempted which violates equal protection and the Indians are exempted which also violates equal protection.
The bill allows 10,000 in every locality in America in soft money. I have no idea how many localities there are but that adds up to a heck of a lot of walking around, buying votes money for the dims.
But most of all, its just more balogna. Money finds collateral paths, always has, always will.
I can back this CFR:
Unlimited donations by American citizens and immediate reporting of those donations.
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