To Republicans MoveOn.org is a political boogeyman; will try to restrict

[dajoki]

NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/washington/31groups.html?ex=1301461200&en=cce2e2ac000da0d2&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

G.O.P. Is Taking Aim at Advocacy Groups

By CARL HULSE and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: March 31, 2006

WASHINGTON, March 30 — To many Republicans, the liberal activist organization MoveOn.org is a political boogeyman that they hope to chase off with new restrictions on so-called 527 groups.

Representative John A. Boehner, the House majority leader, sees advocacy groups as a "gaping loophole" in overhauling campaign finance.
But the pursuit may turn out to be fruitless. Like other major groups planning to inject themselves aggressively into the midterm elections through advertisements, voter drives and issue fights, MoveOn.org has already figured out what it thinks is a better, and less controversial, way to spend its millions. Its 527 — named for a section of the tax code — is being put on ice.

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MoveOn.org might be moving on from its 527, but Congress is not. Two years after 527's burst onto the political scene, gaining notoriety by raising unlimited amounts from private donors, Congressional Republicans are moving to rein in the groups — just in time for the November midterm elections. Leading Democrats are threatening a fight.

In the House, the Republican leadership intends to bring a plan to impose new restrictions on 527 groups to the floor next week to spur action in the Senate, where Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, a champion of the campaign finance bill that bears his name, is offering similar legislation.

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But Mr. Boehner's Democratic counterpart, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, denounced the effort, saying that Republicans could draw unlimited money from wealthy corporations and trade associations that used their own nonprofit arms to wage issue campaigns.