Posted on 02/19/2003 4:19:37 PM PST by aculeus
The New York Times has a hilarious story describing how members of Congress are only now discovering, to their dismay, the requirements of the "campaign finance reform" law they voted for last year. "We sometimes leave our audiences in a state of complete shock," says a lawyer who teaches the intricacies of McCain-Feingold to Democratic legislators. The seminars elicit "a sort of slack-jawed amazement at how far this thing reached." A lawyer who runs similar sessions for Republicans says, "There's an initial stage where the reaction is, 'This can't be true.' And then there's the actual anger stage."
A few other snapshots from the story:
The new chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Representative Robert T. Matsui of California, who voted for McCain-Feingold, says he has been surprised by its fine print.
"I didn't realize what all was in it," Mr. Matsui said. "We have cautioned members: `You have to really understand this law. And if you have any ambiguity, err on the side of caution.' "
***
It turns out that the law also includes a provision requiring that federal candidates appear full-faced for the last four seconds of their campaigns' television advertisements and personally attest that they stand behind the advertisements' content.
Several consultants said this could prove to be quite a problem politically when the time comes to begin televising the kind of hard-hitting negative advertisements that have become standard campaign fare. As a rule, those ads at present tend to reduce the role of the candidate to a small line at the bottom of a screen.
"I think it was a total surprise to people who don't read C.Q. with a yellow pen," said Bill Knapp, a Democratic media consultant, referring to Congressional Quarterly, which keeps close tabs on legislative maneuverings here.
***
Members of both parties have been startled to learn the law's penalties. A violation of McCain-Feingold — be it a national party official's soft-money raising, or a senator's acting as a host at a fund-raiser on behalf of a governor — is a felony carrying a prison sentence of as much as five years.
McCain-Feingold may be an unconstitutional monstrosity, but maybe it will lead members of Congress to reconsider their habit of voting for legislation they haven't read. In any case, it's richly satisfying to see legislators worry that they might be tossed in jail for a seemingly trivial mistake such as speaking at the wrong event or letting your name appear on an invitation. This is the kind of fear and uncertainty their convoluted laws routinely impose on ordinary Americans.
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
Leno and Letterman and countless television ads will be paroding these ridiculous requirements.
Can we please not appeal this thing to the Supreme Court until AFTER the next election?
I want to see just one senator who signed this thing hauled away in plastic cuffs with his jacket over his head. Just one!
Until we pare the scope of the Fed'l gov't, this is what we will have to live with.
i know what e-mail you got this from, and it ain't so! Check urbanlegends.com.
Here's a sampling from a better e-mail...
Question: What do you call a lawyer gone bad?
Answer: Senator
Brett66: (on your post #3) Hey-hey!
As far as McCain-Feingold, it's the restrictions it places on the public that has me up in arms: No issue ads 60 days before elections. This puts a stranglehold on first amendment speech and will probably make voting guides illegal.
And as amusing as this promises to be ("YES, I stand behind this load of insane bullcrap 100%"), I don't think it's fair. Commercials are either ten seconds or twenty seconds. In that context, four seconds is, like, *forever*.
Truth is, this is deeply insulting to all of us and you should read this and be horrified.. AND angry.
What this article is implying is what I have heard some congressmen (one of them is Ron Paul) say for quite some time..
That Congress votes on and passes legislation (that means "makes laws" for you in Palm Beach County) without even knowing what's IN IT OR WHAT IT SAYS.
Now, if that bothers you, then the boiler plate response to criticizm here is even more insulting. It typically goes something like: "Well, we don't have time to read them.."
Excuse the **** out of me here, but isn't it required that one know what he's voting for before one can be sure he's voting correctly?
If you don't know what you're voting for, then you are basically casting a ballot and further infringing the right's of American citizens because: "Well, Bob's in the same party as me and he said it's okay.. and the media wants us to do it.."
I think it would be neat to sneak a "mandatory sterilization for all members of congress" clause into some piece of legslation just to see if they caught it before it was signed into law..
Wouldn't that be a hoot.
I was under the impression that standard T.V. commercials were 30 seconds, with long ones at 60 seconds.
Yep. I was working as a volunteer at the time. But not only did these people not know just the basics of the bill, one of them actually said to me "If we only had a benevolent dictator , my job would be so much easier."
So repulsed, I quit after that. (Back in the days when I was young and foolish.)
That's close to what they want, but not quite. What they want is a party leader who is popular enough so that they can continue to be re-elected.
The ones who have been on Capitol Hill for a long time, like Teddy, Barney, Orrin, etc. know they can't make a difference. A few small victories and a large pension are enough.
But no one can do more unless *WE* decide that they shouldn't control so much of our lives.
but maybe it will lead members of Congress to reconsider their habit of voting for legislation they haven't read.
Literacy. I thought to hold office they had to be literate, Not just have an "intern" or "aide" read it for them and say "its good or bad."
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