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.