Free Republic

Senator John McCain's Reform Institute has suffered some bad press recently due to its involvement in an influence-peddling scandal with Cablevision. As usual, however, mainstream media have failed to go to the root of the matter. Founded on June 26, 2001, McCain's Reform Institute for Campaign and Election Issues has long served as a nerve center for the so-called "campaign finance reform" movement – a movement which has done nothing to clean up campaign finance, but has done a great deal to empower federal judges and government bureaucrats to regulate political speech, in defiance of the Bill of Rights. Now...

Kerry Has Money Left From Presidential Run 1 hour, 25 minutes ago U.S. National - AP By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - John Kerry (news - web sites)'s unsuccessful presidential campaign left him with millions of dollars in seed money for a 2008 Senate or presidential bid. The Democrat transferred $4 million in leftover money from his 2004 presidential-primary campaign to his Senate campaign fund, campaign finance reports he filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) show. Kerry's primary campaign had nearly $10 million left after the transfer. Kerry can use that money and...

WASHINGTON — In one of his last television commercials before the election, President Bush waxed eloquent and emotional on the sacrifices of the U.S. military and his zeal to defend the country. In another, wolves lurked in a forest — symbolizing terrorists on the loose — as a narrator denounced Sen. John F. Kerry for proposing to cut funding for spy agencies. New data released Monday on airtime purchased for campaign advertisements show which spot Bush favored for his closing pitch. The president spent about $53,000 one day late last week to air the uplifting pro-Bush ad called "Whatever it...

Thanks a whole bunch McCain and Feingold! For months, we have heard liberal, left wing loonies rant about how poorly the war in Iraq and plan for peace that followed was going. Regardless of facts, this mantra by liberals and media elite was pushed on the public daily. I am sure you heard it, “They just didn’t plan for the peace.” Ridiculously, they expect American citizens to believe their spin. Not taking into account that most understand that war is not perfectly fought nor won and sadly, peace often comes with great sacrifice. With that said, are you not curious,...

CANNON URGES ILLEGALS TO DONATE ILLEGALLY Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) was interviewed by Jose' Elibardo Rivera on Spanish-language radio station KBJA (1640 AM) on Saturday morning, May 22nd. Also on the air with the congressman was Cannon aide Marco Diaz. An English translation of the transcript from the show reveals the Cannonites explaining how they think illegal aliens could legally contribute to Cannon's congressional re-election campaign and get around the FEC laws. "You, you, you... are illegal, as, as I was a long time ago," says host Rivera to his audience during the interview. "Let's say you are illegal. Does...

Major liberal donors are demonstrating their willingness to fund a new shadow Democratic Party, according to reports filed Friday by a network of nominally independent organizations committed to defeating President Bush in November. At the same time, momentum to bar their activities gained new strength. On Thursday, the legal staff of the Federal Election Commission proposed regulations that could choke off the groups' plans, with backing from an alliance of Republican Party leaders and campaign-watchdog groups. The reports filed Friday with the Internal Revenue Service and the FEC showed millions of dollars flowing from unions, wealthy individuals, environmental groups and...

“I wonder if I shall fall right through the Earth! How funny it’ll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward!” — Alice, from Alice in Wonderland Thanks to three recent, startling court decisions, free speech supporters must think they’ve fallen through the center of the Earth, too, where down is up and up is down. The first ruling was from a Circuit Court in Louisville. Judge Stephen P. Ryan issued a last-minute order blocking a new ordinance limiting the hours adult businesses can be open. Apparently, when it comes to free speech, there can...

Some state officials in Ohio seem to have strange ideas concerning political campaign finance reform. Apparently, they're content to harass low-budget political amateurs. At least they could get it right. As 2003 was ending, Jeff McNeely, a telephone company technician in Cleveland, finally was being granted some peace by the Ohio Elections Commission and the state Attorney General's Office. In 1996, McNeely campaigned as a Democrat for the Ohio House. He lost, in more ways than one. It seems that McNeely, who spent a total of $150 on his race, forgot to list a $32 expenditure on his official campaign...

WASHINGTON (AP) - California Rep. Jane Harman's 1994 campaign for Congress benefited from $21,000 illegally funneled from a Hughes Aircraft Co. fund-raising event, newly released documents show. The records were made public by the Federal Election Commission this week after being discovered during a review of closed enforcement cases, a commission spokesman said. Harman, now the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, was never punished because a federal judge said her campaign didn't commit deliberate or serious violations. At issue was an Oct. 29, 1993, fund-raiser Hughes held for Harman at its El Segundo, Calif., headquarters. Corporations are prohibited...

New FEC Chairman Vows to Enforce Law Thu Dec 18, 5:13 PM ET Add U.S. Government - AP to My Yahoo! By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Democrats who have been forming special groups to avoid spending restrictions in the campaign finance law may soon face some bad news: The government's new chief election regulator is warning their activities could be reined in. Multimedia • Run for the White House 2004 (AP Flash) Bradley Smith, the Republican chosen Thursday as chairman of the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites), said he believes a recent Supreme Court ruling...

Freeper Investigation Exposes Direct Coordination Between MoveOn.org and the DNC (Foreign $$$ funneled to DNC Petition Drive)We have discovered a direct link between the Democrat National Committee (DNC) and MoveOn.org, the organization of choice for donations and activism of the Democrats. Recently there was a Joint Petition Drive to protect America's Courts by DNC and MoveOn.org. This directly links MoveOn.org to the DNC. Drudge revealed this week (below) that foreign money is flowing into MoveOn.org. With the direct link between DNC and MoveOn.org established, MoveOn.org money from foreign sources is funneled to DNC. Nov 13, 2003 More than 300,000...

US attorney general fined for breaking law By Marcus Warren in New York (Filed: 18/12/2003) John Ashcroft, the US attorney general, has been fined £21,000 for breaking election laws during his defeat by a dead rival for a seat in the Senate. During his unsuccessful campaign in 2000, America's top lawman illegally accepted £62,700 from a body set up to support a run for the presidency, the Federal Election Commission found. John Ashcroft A controversial, deeply religious figure, Mr Ashcroft was standing for re-election as a senator from Missouri. Humiliatingly, he was beaten by an opponent who died in a...

<p>Leading campaign-finance watchdog organizations as well as Republican activists intend to challenge the new network of independent groups gearing up to spend as much as $300 million on voter mobilization and pro-Democrat TV ads.</p> <p>The organizations -- the Center for Responsive Politics, the Campaign Legal Center, and Democracy 21 -- contend that the pro-Democrat groups are violating prohibitions on the use of corporate and labor money for partisan voter registration and mobilization drives.</p>

The games those Dems play Posted: December 12, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com We heard all about it from John McCain. The legislation bears his name. We heard about it from Russ Feingold – ditto. We heard speech after speech about how the evil politicians were "buying" elections, and bribing the electoral process in favor of the biggest spender. Tom Daschle talked about it. Dick Durbin talked about it. Hillary Clinton talked about it. And in light of all that was said, the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform law was passed. Democrats loved it. They saw the new legislation as the way...

<p>Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush, who has raised three times as much money as the Democrats' Howard Dean for the 2004 election, can probably increase his fund-raising lead thanks to a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.</p>

Brady Campaign to Pay Fine for Voter Mailings 12/8/2003 The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has agreed to pay a $26,000 fine for failing to report money spent on voter mailings before the 2000 election, the Associated Press reported Dec. 4. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) fined the gun-violence prevention group after its Voter Education Fund failed to report in a timely fashion $111,777 spent on mailings to oppose Kentucky Rep. Ernest Fletcher's election and $99,731 spent against Pennsylvania Rep. Pat Toomey. The FEC requires such information to be reported within 24 hours.

Jewish money: Bush raising Jewish funds from Republicans and Democrats By Matthew E. Berger When Fred Zeidman raised money in the Jewish community for George W. Bush's presidential run in 2000, several Jewish supporters asked to give their donations in cash, afraid of having a public record of their transaction. But this time around, Zeidman is not encountering timid Jews. He said many Jewish donors are eager to leap onto the Bush-Cheney bandwagon. "The difference is night and day," said Zeidman, whom Bush appointed as chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council in 2002. "You can't believe how easy it...

I read the list of Hollywood/entertainment figures who contributed to Prez Bush's re-election. (LA TIMES 11/16/03) $2000: 1. Chuck Norris: One of my favorite actors...I don't think he will get an Oscar any time soon...But, so what? I remember an episode of WALKER TEXAS RANGER...Walker(Norris) tells others that he is going to a meeting with Gov. Bush. 2. Dino De Laurentiis: Produced many films...Like RED DRAGON, HANNIBAL, U-571, and CONAN THE BARBARIAN. 3. Terry Semel: Yahoo CEO 4. Richard Zanuck: Produced many films...Like ROAD TO PERDITION, RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, and DRIVING MISS DAISY. 5. Lili Zanuck: A producer-director...She directed RUSH,...

<p>It's time to scrap America's 30-year-old experiment with public financing of presidential campaigns.</p> <p>Only about one out of every nine Americans checks the box on his tax return to earmark $3 for the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, which matches private campaign donations of up to $250 to qualified candidates. This notwithstanding that tax returns make clear contributing won't increase your tax liability. Now that both Howard Dean and John Kerry have opted out of this public financing system for their primary campaigns, you'd think good-government liberals would re-evaluate how badly the system is working. Instead they are coming up with even more harebrained schemes to try to save it. Some propose raising the amount earmarked out of each tax return to $10 or even $20, though the idea that this would increase public participation strains belief.</p>

<p>PITTSBURGH -- Democratic candidates battling for the 2004 presidential nomination will get millions of taxpayer dollars early next month, but President Bush is widening the cash gap between him and his challengers daily.</p> <p>On Jan. 2, 17 days before the crucial Iowa caucuses that will be the first test for the Democrats, the federal government will dole out more than $10 million to the hopefuls.</p>