Free Republic

At a time when free speech issues are rife at the University of Louisville, a preeminent attorney specializing in First Amendment rights recently spoke on campus. On March 1, Floyd Abrams discussed some of the largest cases he has worked on as an attorney. Best known as co-counsel in the Pentagon Papers case, Abrams primarily discussed his latest role working with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., prosecuting the McCain-Feingold bill that intends to reform campaign finance. According to Abrams, the bill disallows any group from running television advertisements that refer to political candidates within 60 days of an election, 30 days...

The Democratic Party prides itself on having pushed through the landmark 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), as the legislation was called, was supposed to clean up politics and restore integrity to a discredited system where lobbyists shaped legislation, politicians spent most of their time chasing down campaign contributions, and special interests gave a lot – and expected a lot in return. But it didn’t quite work out that way. Although the BCRA was by any measure a landmark legislative achievement, it didn’t quite turn off the spigot pouring special interest money into politics;...

Washington, D.C. – Concerned Women for America (CWA) announced support today for the First Amendment Restoration Act of 2004 to restore the rights of free speech violated by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA). “Our founders were intent on protecting political speech and exposing political tyranny when they wrote the First Amendment,” said Michael Bowman, director of state legislative relations for CWA Legislative Action Committee. “Men and women across the country count on CWA to be their voice on the defining issues of our day. The real result of BCRA is the censorship of our members’ views. Every...

Advocacy Groups Permitted to Use Unlimited Funds . . . Ruling Favors Democrats --New York Times, lead story, February 19 FEC Moves to Regulate Groups Opposing Bush --Washington Post, same day (1) You know, I remember reading those stories. And I remember being totally confused by them. Should I be embarrassed? No: We're talking about federal election law, here. Almost nobody understands this stuff. And besides, the coverage itself was confused. Even people who do understand federal election law couldn't make heads or tails of it. According to the Times, the Federal Election Commission has given a green light to...

MADISON, Wis. — The main author of legislation to overhaul the state's campaign finance laws said Thursday the reforms were dead for this session and accused Republican leaders and the Democratic governor of doing everything they could to derail the bill. Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, withdrew the bill from consideration by the Legislature, saying he had lost bipartisan support and therefore expected it to be vetoed by Gov. Jim Doyle if it reached his desk. Rather than do that, he said he would wait until lawmakers reconvene for the next two-year session in January to try again. "The leadership of...

Back to First The Beginning of the end of McCain-Feingold. On the surface, the partisans of restricting campaign finance are riding high. In 2002, they passed McCain-Feingold, which imposed major new limits on fundraising and political advertising. Late last year, the Supreme Court said "yes" to those restrictions, and all but invited Congress to pass more. Yet, as Richard Nixon once remarked, the greatest danger in politics comes at the moment of greatest victory. Indeed, political problems for McCain-Feingold have arrived, and so has a solution. Over 90 percent of congressional Democrats voted for McCain-Feingold. They expected something for their...

May I Have a Word? Two months after the Supreme Court upheld 2001's Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) in the face of a challenge by Sen. Mitch McConnell, objection again was raised in the form of a House bill that would repeal those sections of the "reform" that opponents say infringe upon basic freedoms. This measure, introduced Feb. 12 by Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), is the latest expression of discontent with John McCain's pet legislation; the BCRA has previously drawn fire from such diverse critics as the AFL-CIO and the Libertarian Party. McConnell had been supported in his court challenge by,...

The Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) Office of General Counsel yesterday proposed a tough set of rules to regulate independent groups that plan to spend tens of millions of dollars in soft money in this election year. Yesterday’s proposal kicks off a two-month rulemaking process that Republicans and members of the campaign finance reform community hope will culminate in rules that significantly restrict the activities of these mainly liberal-leaning groups. Many Democrats, on the other hand, fiercely oppose adopting new regulations for independent groups such as so-called 527 groups, named after a section of the U.S. tax code that governs their...

Does campaign finance reform level field, or confuse it? The rationale behind the restrictions was to limit the influence of big donors. But state and local parties may be caught in the cross-fire. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It used to be simple. An election approached, and local Democratic and Republican parties ran phone banks, pounded doors, and sent mailings urging people to vote for their party slate. But across Florida this year, party officials are fretting that it may require teams of accountants and lawyers to keep them from breaking the law doing what used to be routine. Campaign finance reforms stand to...

Washington- As footage of Osama bin Laden played across the screen, an announcer warned about the dire consequences of electing Howard Dean, a presidential candidate with no military or foreign policy experience. The message of the 30-second ad was abundantly clear. The messenger wasn't. The spot, which ran in some early Democratic primary states, included a tag that said it was paid for by "Americans for Jobs, Health Care and Progressive Values," but it gave no hint about who financed the group or what its agenda is beyond attacking the then-Democratic front-runner.The 2002 campaign finance law may have shut off...

Success of new campaign-finance law depends on the rules Washington writes The McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law has handed the Federal Election Commission a second chance to be part of the solution when it comes to unregulated soft money, rather than part of the problem. The regulatory agency should seize the opportunity to get it right this time. When it writes rules that will govern tax-exempt political committees already busy raising soft money to influence federal elections, the FEC needs to keep in mind that closing that spigot was the prime objective of the new law. Its rules must not sanction any...

<p>GEORGE WILL'S assertion in "Criminalizing free speech" (op ed, Feb. 23) that money, specifically campaign contributions, is a form of free speech is a perversion of the First Amendment's intent. The First Amendment was created in the belief that open individual expression is integral to a functioning democracy. It was never intended to allow individuals to bribe politicians. If money is free speech, then corporations and a wealthy minority of Americans seem to have the only readily available supply of it.</p>

Bill Would Reduce Anti-Free Speech Effects of Campaign Finance Law Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Campaign reform legislation that prohibits organizations other than political action committees from mentioning candidates in advertising before primaries and elections has stifled pro-life groups. That's why pro-life Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) has introduced a bill that would restore the First Amendment Rights of the excluded organizations. Currently, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 includes a provision that prohibits non-PAC-funded issue advocacy and references to candidates in broadcast advertisements 30 days prior to primaries and 60 days prior to general elections. That means pro-life groups that...

The Michigan Department of State is offering the following general information regarding McConnell v Federal Election Commission, the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding most provisions of the federal Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA). However, the department has no authority to interpret federal campaign law and cannot answer specific questions regarding the BCRA. Candidates or members of committees that have questions are encouraged to seek the counsel of an election attorney or contact the Federal Election Commission (FEC) at (800) 424-9530 or www.fec.gov. IMPACT ON THE MICHIGAN CAMPAIGN FINANCE ACT Nothing in BCRA or the Supreme Court’s decision...

The Federal Election Commission last week issued an advisory opinion that said any ads which promote, support or attack a specific candidate must be paid for with hard money. The move could threaten the ability of political interest groups known as 527s to use soft money to campaign against President Bush. The opinion is not a law, but the FEC is expected to issue a formal rule-making on the issue by mid-May. The opinion is the first-step in determining how 527s--co-called because of their tax standing with the IRS--can raise and spend money under McCain-Feingold. Laws regulating soft money would...

WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, who voted for campaign-finance reform two years ago, is calling on the Federal Election Commission to allow certain political groups to raise unlimited “soft money” campaign contributions. Ross and 53 other House Democrats told the agency in a letter last Friday that when they voted for the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, they did not intend to impose the same restrictions on the groups that are required of federal elected officials and political parties. “We voted to get federal elected officials and political parties out of the business of raising and spending soft money —...

Two years ago President Bush, who had called it unconstitutional, signed the McCain-Feingold bill -- furtively, at 8 a.m. in the Oval Office. The law expanded restrictions on political speech, ostensibly to combat corruption or the "appearance" thereof. Bush probably signed it partly because the White House, thinking corruptly, or appearing to do so, saw re-election advantage in this fiddling with the First Amendment. And partly because the newspaper editorial writers were nearly unanimous in praise of McCain-Feingold. The editorialists' advocacy of the bill could appear corrupt: It increases the political influence of unregulated newspaper editorializing relative to rival voices...

<p>The Federal Election Commission yesterday voted 4-2 to place restrictions on political advocacy groups with no expressed party affiliation that use "soft money" to influence elections.</p> <p>At the same time, the six-member commission delayed a decision on a campaign-finance law that prohibits money from big businesses and unions from going to tax-exempt groups that are connected to political parties.</p>

Student Reps for Dean, Edwards, Kerry, Bush Debate Campaign Finance Student representatives campaigning for President George W. Bush and Democratic candidates Howard Dean, John Edwards, and John Kerry, participated in a presidential forum hosted by Democracy Matters last night. The forum--the third in a five-part series--focused on campaign finance reform and other monetary issues. Each representative addressed the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act, fundraising limits, and the sources from which each candidate accepted campaign funds. Wayne Ting, CC '06 and the student representative for Kerry, started the discussion with comments on Kerry's record and his support of the McCain-Feingold Campaign...

What is going on here? Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in a recent speech said that decisions of other countries' courts could be persuasive authority in American courts. At a time when 30 percent of the U.S. gross national product is internationally derived, she said, "no institution of government can afford to ignore the rest of the world." She is by no means alone on the Supreme Court. Six of that Court's nine members have either written or joined in opinions citing foreign authorities. The most astonishing, or risible, so far was Justice Stephen Breyer's opinion arguing that he found "useful"...