Advocacy Groups Allowed to Raise Unlimited Funds

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 — The Federal Election Commission said on Wednesday that advocacy groups that were established to get around fund-raising restrictions in the new campaign finance law could continue to spend unlimited contributions for television commercials and other communications, though they must do so under far more restrictive rules.

The commission's ruling on so-called "527 committees" could have profound effects on the 2004 election by helping the Democratic Party, which has been much more aggresive than Republicans in creating these committees to help the party compete with the Republicans' overall 2-to-1 fund-raising advantage. None of this money winds up in the candidates' hands but can be used to raise issues and attack candidates by name.

Perhaps the best known of these groups, America Coming Together and MoveOn.org, gained widespread attention when George Soros, the philanthropist and international financier, pledged millions to each. Another organization, called Americans for Jobs, Health Care and Progressive Values ran television advertisements attacking Howard Dean's presidential bid, showing a close-up of Osama bin Laden and questioning Dr. Dean's ability to compete with President Bush on foreign policy. Robert G. Torricelli, the former Democratic senator from New Jersey and a fundraiser for Senator John Kerry, helped finance that organization with $50,000.

The Federal Election Commission took up the matter because Republicans had hoped the commission would curtail the use of unlimited donations, known as soft money contributions, by the committees. The Republican Party objects to the use of the committees because it far outraises the Democrats in so-called "hard money," which parties raise in smaller increments.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/19/politics/campaign/19DONA.html?hp

[Homer12]

1. Cash = Freedom of Speech

Let the Republicans choke on it, they are the best political hypocrites on the planet.