Newsweek: How McCain Skirting Spending Caps
Tue Jul 08, 2008 at 05:05:31 AM PDT
John McCain seems intent on carrying on the lawless philosophies of the George W. Bush administration before he even wins the Presidency. He has been guilty of multiple violations of existing Federal law governing campaign spending for months. He and the Republicans are now gearing up a plan to get around the law that will limit McCain's direct expenditures in the post-primary phase of the election, by funneling money through state campaign funds. A clear violation of campaign spending laws.
Now remember. This is the same John McCain who helped pass many of the laws he is now violating in his quest to be elected President.
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA, McCain–Feingold Act
Newsweek is now reporting the McCain / Republican plan to get around the spending limits by diverting money to state campaign funds.
Meanwhile, McCain campaign is stepping around federal spending limits by funneling cash through the state and national party machinery--and potentially benefiting from donations to a non-RNC organization that could boost his chances in key states. As the Wall Street Journal reported last Thursday, the Republican Governors' Association, a GOP group unrestrained by federal spending limits because it's designed to elect governors, is now "marketing itself as a home for contributions of unlimited size to help Sen. McCain." ...
Finally, the well-funded but completely unregulated outside groups known as 527s are beginning to shell out on McCain's behalf. The operatives who bankrolled the Swift Boat attack ads against Sen. John Kerry four years ago are investing in the governors’ kitty. ...
The irony here, of course, is that it was McCain who co-sponsored the 2002 law meant to curtail the influence of wealth on presidential politics by limiting direct donations to the campaigns. Now he's the one's doing everything imaginable to circumvent the very caps he fought to create. We don't begrudge the senator his acrobatics. With Obama anticipated to raise between $200 and $300 million for the general election--much of it from his network of 1.5 (mostly small-sum) donors--it's the only way the Arizonan can stay competitive. But let's hope whoever's elected in November figures out a better way of keeping cold, hard cash from dominating our politics. That way we won't have to deal with these shenanigans again in 2012.
John McCain. Money Talks. Newsweek article.
Of course, since March of 2008, McCain has been guilty of blatant violations of campaign finance laws.
By signing up for matching money, McCain agreed to adhere to strict state-by-state spending limits and an overall limit on spending of $54 million for the primary season, which lasts until the party's nominating convention in September. The general election has a separate public financing arrangement.
FEC Warns John McCain on Campaign Spending
John McCain has officially broken the limits imposed by the presidential public financing system, according to spending reports filed last week by the campaign.
The senator from Arizona has spent $58.4 million on his Republican primary effort. Those who have committed to public financing can spend no more than $54 million on their primary bid.
McCain's lawyers contend that the spending cap no longer applies. The senator was certified to enter the matching-funds program last year when he was starved for cash. But once he started to win, he decided to hold off. On Feb. 6, after his Super Tuesday victories, he wrote to the Federal Election Commission to announce he would withdraw. His lawyers said that gave him freedom to spend as much as he wanted.
But David Mason, chairman of the commission, wrote to McCain's campaign last month to alert him that the commission had not yet granted that withdrawal request, and that the commission would first have to vote on the matter. One snag is that the commission has four vacancies and therefore lacks a quorum to consider the matter.
John McCain Breaks Spending Limits. Boston Globe.
Of course, John McCain appears to have become a serial lawbreaker in this regard, as reported by the New York Times.
But over a seven-month period beginning last summer, Mr. McCain’s cash-short campaign gave itself an advantage by using a corporate jet owned by a company headed by his wife, Cindy McCain, according to public records. For five of those months, the plane was used almost exclusively for campaign-related purposes, those records show.
John McCain Frequently Used Wife's Plane for Little Cost.
Permalink | 3 comments