FEC allowed it ONLY if the candidate didn’t profit from it — Cain is using campaign funds to buy books from his own FOR PROFIT company, so he is clearly profiting from the booksales AND having the expenses of the promotion of his books paid for by his campaign.
“The F.E.C. first addressed the issue of campaign-book-buying in 1995, when Alfonse D’Amato’s reelection committee requested permission to buy copies of “Power, Pasta, and Politics” to distribute as thank-you gifts to donors. In an advisory opinion, the F.E.C. stated that the practice was allowable, so long as the candidate received no royalties for the purchases (D’Amato had suggested donating the royalties to charity, which the F.E.C. approved of), and so long as the books were not resold or given away to people who had not made donations. “
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/10/when-politicians-buy-their-own-books.html
The link above also has links to stories in other publications with more detail and explanations.
Now you’re sourcing “The New Yorker.” What are you doing on a conservative forum to begin with, troll?