McCain-Feingold Continues to Crack
I posted awhile back on possible campaign finance reform. Obviously the best campaign reform starts with “we the people,” versus some mandate from back in Washington, which is why I am very happy to see that the McCain-Feingold bill continues to see defeat after defeat in the courts.
Most recently the Supreme Court struck down the Millionaire’s Amendment of McCain-Feingold (Davis v. Federal Election Commission) and highlighted two key analytical issues:
- Certain disclosure requirements were unconstitutional, namely those requiring that a candidate’s contributions to his campaign be disclosed as they were being made, in addition to being reported on the normal periodic disclosure schedule.
- The court upheld the argument that a law benefitting one candidate necessarily harmed the other candidate because a campaign is a zero-sum contest.
I hope McCain gets some difficult questions about the impact of his amendment on free speech during the upcoming election cycle. My hope is that ultimately we stop relying on the government to fix campaign finance. Their efforts have either hurt free speech or made it that much easier for the incumbent and establishment to win. I believe that as we citizens take the initiative to be informed and we can and will bring about the most meaningful kind of reform: change at the ballot box.
Jobu said,
July 7, 2008 @ 5:30 pm
All Republicans should learn from McCain’s foolish attempts to win over the media. McCain figured that he could earn media respect by poking a stick in his own party’s eye by supporting campaign finance “reform”. It worked for a while, but now that a younger, better looking suitor (Obama) has appeared, the media isn’t interested in him any more. McCain sold his soul and has nothing to show for it, except conservatives who no longer trust him.
When a Republican gets accolades from the media, it’s like the homecoming queen smiling at the high school geek. The geek finally thinks his luck has changed when in fact nothing has changed at all.
Any campaign finance “reform” that is supported by the media is necessarily a “reform” that increases the influence the media has on election outcomes. Don’t be fooled.
Lesson:
Frank Staheli said,
July 8, 2008 @ 9:01 pm
McCain Feingold in and of itself should be reason enough to disqualify John McCain, Russ Feingold, and anyone who voted for it from any public office.
It is comitragic that McCain, and Obama for that matter, are candidates for the highest office in the land.
This year, like perhaps no other election year before, it behooves us to vote third party. Anyone, anyone but the Establishment. We may still be saddled with one these two albatrosses for four years this time around, but hopefully we can start something of lasting importance.