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WASHINGTON – Republicans are making another run at overturning a ban on unlimited "soft money" contributions. Their Democratic rivals say it is an attempt to bring big money back to politics because the GOP can't keep up with President Barack Obama's fundraising machine. The Republican National Committee is suing to overturn part of a ban on unlimited contributions passed by Congress in 2002 and upheld by the Supreme Court a year later.

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Conservative Union (ACU) chairman David A. Keene announced today that ACU has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against MoveOn.org Political Action and the New York Times Company for violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. On Monday, September 10, 2007, MoveOn sponsored a full-page advertisement in the New York Times attacking General David Petraeus prior to his report to Congress regarding the status of the United States military operations in Iraq. The open rate for a full-page...

Senate Democrats are considering placing curbs on soft-money 527 groups amid evidence that they are beginning to lose the political advantage these largely unregulated funds have given them over Republicans. This is a move Democrats had strenuously opposed during the last Congress, when they were believed to benefit from the lion’s share of 527 money, but now there is evidence that more of the money from these groups, named for a clause in the tax code, is flowing to the GOP. Meanwhile, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (Ill.), is planning to introduce legislation in the next...

WASHINGTON - The Federal Election Commission failed to give a good reason for refusing to rein in nonprofit political groups that spent huge sums in the 2004 presidential elections, a judge has ruled in a case brought by President Bush's campaign and lawmakers. In a 34-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said the FEC failed to give "a reasoned explanation" for its decision not to issues rules to require so-called "527" groups to register as federal political action committees and face the same strict fundraising, spending and disclosure rules PACs do. But Sullivan stopped short of saying the...

"HOW'S THE NEWS ON SOFT MONEY GOING?" MAURICE I. MICHAANE '03 There's good news and bad news on the campaign finance reform front . The good news lies in the unprecedented agreement between New York Senate candidates Hillary Rodham (D) and Rep. Rick Lazio (R) to forgo millions of dollars worth of soft-money advertising on their behalf and to urge independent groups not to mount ad campaigns for them. The bad news arises from evidence that, despite the campaign finance scandals of 1996, the White House guest rooms are still being used by President and Mrs. Clinton to raise money...

ALBANY, Feb. 16 - The federal government may have cracked down on the use of soft money by national political parties, but the tradition is alive and well in New York State. Local parties can still accept unlimited corporate donations to their so-called housekeeping committees, which have few restrictions on how they can spend the money. The increasing use of party housekeeping committees was highlighted this year by the disclosure that the state Republican Party's housekeeping committee pays the salary of a full-time assistant for the state's first lady, Libby Pataki. Critics say the accounts are used to skirt the...

It's encouraging to see signs of life in Washington, particularly on the Republican side of the aisle, over the obvious need to plug the newest subterranean pipe for unregulated campaign funds from big labor, big corporations and just plain big money. Of all the subplots in the presidential election, none were as sorry as the Democrats' pioneering "527" groups - named for the section of the tax code that governs them. The 527's were intended to circumvent the law's strictures against having unlimited soft money flood into political races. The Democrats built these new shadow-party advocacy groups to attack the...

WASHINGTON - Whatever the reasons John Kerry and the Democrats lost the race for the White House, lack of money wasn't one. Tax-exempt pro-Democratic groups raising big checks for this year's election collected almost twice as much money as their Republican rivals in the presidential race, a study shows. The financial advantage comes in addition to record fund raising by Kerry, the unsuccessful candidate, and the Democratic Party. In all, nonparty political groups, known as 527s because of the tax code section that covers them, raised about $534 million and spent roughly $544 million in the 2003-04 election cycle, the...

Once again, CBS continues to carry water for the Kerry Campaign - even going so far as to "partner" with a Soros-funded 527 designed to push polls for John Kerry. MTV's "CHOOSE OR LOSE" - ROCK THE VOTE 2004 - Poll Gives Kerry Big Lead Among Voters Under 30 09.21.2004 11:53 AM EDT Younger voters think the country is heading in the wrong direction and that President Bush does not share their priorities, but they like Bush personally and are unsure about John Kerry. Overall, Kerry has a substantial lead among voters under thirty, a reversal of the Bush's nine-point...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 - Just last week, Stanley Greenberg was the polling mastermind guiding the way three liberal groups spent tens of millions of dollars attacking President Bush and registering voters. But he quit that position to be an unpaid adviser to the Kerry campaign as it presses to sharpen its message in the final 56 days before the election. Mr. Greenberg is just the latest in a procession of top strategists who have moved between the campaigns and advocacy groups called 527's - the very organizations that are not supposed to coordinate their activities under campaign finance rules. The...

Republicans rake in campaign contributions from inside corporate suites while the little guy writes out his meager check to Democrats, right? Actually, no. The Center for Responsive Politics conducted a study of the 2002 Federal election cycle, the most recent cycle with complete data. The Center found that individuals giving $200 or less gave 64 percent of their money to the GOP and 35 percent to Democrats. However, very wealthy contributors who gave one million dollars or more gave 92 percent to Democrats and just eight percent to Republicans. Democrats also benefited from donors giving 100,000-dollars or more while Republicans...

DNC "WAR ROOM" SPOKESMAN JAY CARSON: "‘John Kerry has been withdrawing money from the special interest bank for his entire career and now – because it’s the popular thing to do – he wants us to believe that he’s going to close the account and go after the people that have funded his political career,’ said Jay Carson ..." (Jim VandeHei, “Kerry Leads In Lobby Money,” The Washington Post , 1/31/04)LEARN MORE ABOUT KERRY/EDWARDS' SHIFTING POSITIONS AT WWW.KERRYONIRAQ.COM

ARLINGTON, VA -- Bush-Cheney '04 Campaign Manager Ken Mehlman issued the following statement: "Ben's resignation is an example of a decent public servant who understood the entrenched double standard in the media’s examination of the relationship between campaigns and outside interest groups, exemplified by their tolerance of blatant lies by two Kerry spokespeople regarding their campaign's relationship with Bob Bauer. The Kerry campaign’s hypocrisy today embodies the worst of American politics. Ben's Democratic counterparts and outside observers of campaign finance law have all made clear that there's no legal conflict in what Bauer, Joe Sandler and Ben Ginsberg do for...

Is anybody else concerned that both parties want to clamp down on "Unregulated" speech. Since when is political speech supposed to be regulated? (I know, I know, I read the Supreme Court's twisted logic, too...) The 527s are the only way plain folks can be heard without having to go through the parties, talk show call screeners or newspaper editors to reach the "masses". (Notice, I didn't mention blogs, chat rooms and discussion groups - I still assume the masses don't know we exist!) 527s aren't shadowy - they are already regulated and open as much as anybody - all...

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush (news - web sites) denounced TV ads by outside groups attacking both John Kerry (news - web sites) and himself on Monday and called for a halt to all such political efforts. "I think they're bad for the system," he said The president made his comments as the Kerry campaign fought back against charges made by an outside group that the Democratic senator had lied about wartime events in Vietnam for which he received five medals.

.............To their credit, a few journalists are now seeing the scales fall from their eyes. The Washington Post's David Broder, dean of the Beltway press corps, now admits that "it is virtually impossible to control the flow of money from the private sector into the political world. . . . The best one can hope is that new rules do not produce more unintended negative consequences than benefits. McCain-Feingold is flunking that test." Sen. George Allen, who once occupied Thomas Jefferson's seat in the Virginia Legislature, says that the only way to honor the First Amendment's protections of political speech...

Latest Release...August 22, 2004 Who’s Betting on Whom? The Death of One More Myth… Written by JB Williams ©2004-08-19 In my last article, I laid to rest the notion that Kerry/Edwards were anything short of the two biggest political prostitutes in Washington in terms of sucking up special interest soft money. Despite Kerry’s “anti-special interest campaign rhetoric”, no McCain-Feingold legislation was going to keep the king Kong of soft money shake downs out of this Presidential race. (Next to marrying rich women and dodging fellow veterans, it’s one of Kerry’s few true talents.) However, Kerry’s socialist billionaire buddy’s and Hollywood...

Polls show that ad is hurting Kerry, especially among veterans. His campaign is demanding President Bush renounce it. "The president needs to step to the plate, not through a spokesperson, himself, and say, ‘take down these ads,’” Sen. John Edwards said. The Bush campaign won’t take the bait. What the public sees from the Kerry campaign is a series of false and flailing attacks, they charge. The president himself has been the target of $63 million in attack ads, they claim, and Bush wants all soft money ads stopped. "John Kerry's campaign is the only campaign that has questioned anybody's...

This may be old news, but John Podesta was on the Sunday news programs talking about the supposed link between the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the Bush Campaign. Seems those who live in glass houses shouldn't be so naked. This link calls this "part II", of an expose of MoveOn.org's campaign corruption, and George Soros's plan to defeat Bush. I know, old news, but this document goes into specifics and the ties shown are a little damning at this particular time. At the bottom are details of a complaint to the FEC. Anyone seen this or know where...

WASHINGTON - Non-party groups spending millions of dollars in unlimited donations on ads and get-out-the-vote drives in this year's presidential race will face some new ground rules starting with the 2006 election. The Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) voted 4-2 Thursday to require groups that raise more than $1,000 by telling donors the money will be used to support the election or defeat of a particular presidential or congressional candidate to accept only limited donations from individuals and to divulge the contributions and spending to the FEC. The commission also placed new spending restrictions on groups that collect...

527 surge takes Kerry past Bush By Alexander Bolton Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and his Democratic allies have raised almost twice as much money as the Bush-Cheney campaign so far this year, according to recent government filings. The data show that despite the fears of many Democrats, their White House nominee likely will not be significantly hurt by his funding disparity compared to President Bush this election year. The figures also call into question the effectiveness of campaign-finance reform and whether it has in fact wrung special-interest money out of politics. Twenty-one of the largest Democratic-allied 527 groups — named...

The White House yesterday distanced itself from a political ad that questions John Kerry's Vietnam service and called on the Democratic presidential nominee to join President Bush in demanding an "immediate cessation" of all advertisements by outside groups. "We have not and will not question Senator Kerry's service in Vietnam," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One. "The president is calling for an immediate cessation to all the unregulated soft money activity." He added: "We hope the Kerry campaign will join us." The TV ad features 13 Vietnam veterans who say Mr. Kerry, a Navy lieutenant...

After the U.S. Congress banned unlimited contributions to political parties two years ago to reduce the influence of big donors, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky took to the floor and made a prediction. ``There won't be a penny less spent on issues and campaigns in America because of this bill,'' said McConnell, who led the fight against the legislation, after the Senate passed it on March 20, 2002. Turns out, the 62-year-old Republican was understating his case: More money is pouring into the parties than ever before. Democrats and Republicans collected a record $345 million from Jan. 1, 2003, through...

WASHINGTON - A pro-Republican get-out-the-vote group aimed at counteracting multimillion-dollar organizations that oppose President Bush has logged its first $1 million donation. The Progress for America Voter Fund received $1 million in June from Jerry Perenchio, chief executive of the Univision Communications Inc. Spanish-language media company. Perenchio, a volunteer GOP fund-raiser, has also raised at least $100,000 for Bush's re-election effort. Perenchio's donation was among three accounting for nearly all the $2.26 million the Progress for America Voter Fund raised in the second quarter, a report by the group to the Internal Revenue Service shows. The group also received $500,000...

Video and audio courtesy The Associated Press. (Free Real Player required)Somber images from the Sept. 11 attacks fill the television screen -- twisted steel, then President Bush with his arm draped around a firefighter's shoulders. "He held us together and began to hunt down terrorist killers. But what if Bush wasn't there?" the announcer asks. "Could John Kerry have shown this leadership? The Kerry who voted against billions for America's intelligence even after the first World Trade Center bombing? The Kerry who voted against 13 weapons systems our troops depend on?" A Republican-linked group paid for the ad with the...

I had an interesting encounter today while at my sil's house. First, let me start by saying that we were out in very rural Ohio visiting my sil. As we were leaving, 2 college age men came by with "Americans Coming Together" shirts on knocking at my sil's door. Big deal, right. The dems had their stooges out hitting the pavement trying to muster up votes. Well, here is the big deal about it... They come up to the door as we were leaving, asking for my sil's oldest daughter BY NAME! This girl does not attend college, does not...

The fledgling liberal Air America Radio Network is struggling to reach listeners since its inception earlier this year. The 24-hour talk network can only be heard in only 15 markets around the country, including two stations in Florida. The closest radio station to Southwest Florida that carries the network is WLIB-AM (1190) in Key West. The programming can also be picked up on XM and Sirius satellite broadcasting. The network also streams its shows on the Internet. snip- Franken is being paid $1 million a year to host the noon to 3 p.m. show called "The O'Franken Factor." In a...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators on Thursday refused to impose new restrictions on political groups that are spending millions on the presidential election, and Republicans predicted the decision would open the spending floodgates on their side. Several Democratic groups have already begun spending large donations on advertising and get-out-the-vote activities. Republicans had asked to step in and stop the activities under the campaign law that broadly banned big checks known as "soft money" from federal elections. But four of the six Federal Election Commission members on Thursday refused to step in, tabling the issue for at least three months. Democratic...

WASHINGTON - Federal officials Thursday rejected new limits for political groups pouring millions into ads and voter drives in the presidential election, and Republicans predicted the decision would prompt a surge in big donations for their side. Several Democratic groups have already begun spending large donations on efforts critical of President Bush (news - web sites) or supportive of Democratic candidate John Kerry (news - web sites). Republicans had asked the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) to stop the activities under the campaign law that broadly banned from federal elections the big checks known as "soft money." But...

MoveOn Staffer Moves on to Kerry Campaign 1 hour, 51 minutes ago By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - A strategist with MoveOn.org, a group that Republicans accuse of being too closely tied to Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites)'s presidential campaign, is leaving to work for Kerry. Zack Exley will be the Kerry campaign's director of online communications and organizing. He was the MoveOn political action committee's special projects director, focusing on research and mobilizing MoveOn supporters, Eli Pariser, the PAC's executive director, said Wednesday. President Bush (news - web sites)'s campaign last week filed a government...

Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry is hoping that reporters will be so intimidated by his Vietnam War medals that they will not explore his pro-communist political career. It's true that he fought bravely against the communists. Later, however, he turned against his fellow soldiers, accused them of genocide, marched with those seeking a communist victory in Vietnam, and abandoned Vietnam POW/MIAs. Then, as a senator, he strongly opposed the efforts of the Reagan administration to prevent a communist takeover of Central America. Instead of raising these issues, which go the heart of Kerry's patriotism and integrity, the media have run...

SPARTANBURG, SC (Talon News) -- Liberal anti-Bush online political activist group MoveOn.org sent a warning message to its members this week regarding the upcoming ruling by the Federal Election Commission about the legality of so-called 527 groups accepting soft campaign contributions to run political ads."The Republican National Committee is pressing the Federal Election Commission to issue new rules that would cripple groups that dare to communicate with the public in any way critical of President Bush or members of Congress," MoveOn.org charged in an e-mail to supporters.In the e-mail, MoveOn.org attempts to scare "conservative, progressive, labor, religious, secular, social...

WASHINGTON – President Bush's campaign and the GOP on Wednesday accused Democrat John Kerry's campaign of illegally coordinating political ads and get-out-the-vote activities with independent groups. The Bush campaign and Republican National Committee said they would file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing Kerry and pro-Kerry groups of violating a campaign law that broadly bans the use of "soft money" - corporate, union and unlimited individual donations - to influence federal elections. The Bush campaign and GOP say that pro-Kerry groups are illegally spending soft money in the presidential race, and that Kerry's campaign is illegally coordinating that...

<p>President Bush's re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee yesterday accused Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry's campaign formally of illegal coordination of political advertising with anti-Bush groups and donors, including billionaire George Soros.</p> <p>"Senator Kerry, who supported the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act, is now the beneficiary of the single largest conspiracy to violate campaign-finance laws in history," RNC Chief Counsel Jill Holtzman Vogel said yesterday at a press conference with Bush campaign and other RNC officials.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON - President Bush's campaign yesterday accused John Kerry of illegally coordinating political ads with anti-Bush groups and donors - including billionaire George Soros.</p> <p>Team Bush and the Republican National Committee said they would soon file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing Kerry and pro-Kerry groups of violating a campaign law that bans the use of "soft money" - corporate, union and unlimited individual donations - to influence federal elections.</p>

Washington, DC—The Republican National Committee and the Bush Cheney campaign today announced they are filing a complaint against third party 527 groups and the John Kerry for President campaign. “Senator Kerry, who supported the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act (BCRA) is now the beneficiary of the single largest conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws in history,” said RNC Chief Counsel Jill Holtzman Vogel. The complaint which will be filed with the Federal Election Commission today outlines violations of campaign finance law including using soft money to advocate for or against a candidate for federal office and illegally coordinating campaign activity...

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites)'s campaign and the GOP on Wednesday accused Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites)'s campaign of illegally coordinating political ads and get-out-the-vote activities with independent groups. The Bush campaign and RNC said they would file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) accusing Kerry and pro-Kerry groups of violating a campaign law that broadly bans the use of "soft money" — corporate, union and unlimited individual donations — to influence federal elections. The Bush campaign and GOP say pro-Kerry groups are illegally spending soft money in the presidential...

<p>Sen. John McCain threatened yesterday to sue the Federal Election Commission if it fails to enforce federal election laws against groups that use "soft money" to influence presidential and congressional races.</p> <p>"Senator [Russell D.] Feingold is right, use of soft money contributions by '527 groups' whose major purpose is to affect federal elections is not legal," the Arizona Republican said in a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing yesterday.</p>

<p>Sen. John McCain threatened yesterday to sue the Federal Election Commission if it fails to enforce federal election laws against groups that use "soft money" to influence presidential and congressional races.</p> <p>"Senator [Russell D.] Feingold is right, use of soft money contributions by '527 groups' whose major purpose is to affect federal elections is not legal," the Arizona Republican said in a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing yesterday.</p>

<p>Sen. John McCain threatened yesterday to sue the Federal Election Commission if it fails to enforce federal election laws against groups that use "soft money" to influence presidential and congressional races.</p> <p>"Senator [Russell D.] Feingold is right, use of soft money contributions by '527 groups' whose major purpose is to affect federal elections is not legal," the Arizona Republican said in a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing yesterday.</p>

Led by veterans of presidential and congressional campaigns, a coalition of Democratic Party interest groups, armed with millions of dollars in soft money, is rapidly constructing an unprecedented political operation designed to supplement the activities of Sen. John F. Kerry's campaign in the effort to defeat President Bush.

<p>Federal election officials proposed new rules Thursday that could sharply curb the activities of private political groups intent on influencing this year's presidential election.</p> <p>Although the action by the Federal Election Commission is not final, it drew objections from non-profit groups allied with Democrats who fear that continuing legal uncertainty will dampen their fundraising.</p>

The Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) Office of General Counsel yesterday proposed a tough set of rules to regulate independent groups that plan to spend tens of millions of dollars in soft money in this election year. Yesterday’s proposal kicks off a two-month rulemaking process that Republicans and members of the campaign finance reform community hope will culminate in rules that significantly restrict the activities of these mainly liberal-leaning groups. Many Democrats, on the other hand, fiercely oppose adopting new regulations for independent groups such as so-called 527 groups, named after a section of the U.S. tax code that governs their...

WASHINGTON - Interest groups raising big donations to spend in this year's elections could face tough new limits under a proposal federal officials will begin considering this week. The Federal Election Commission is weighing how a new campaign finance law affects nonparty groups that raise corporate, union and unlimited "soft money" donations and are active at election time. Several commissioners call it the most important decision they will make this year. The FEC is considering a wide range of options, from placing broad limits on soft money groups to sticking to the status quo and waiting to see what the...

Washington- As footage of Osama bin Laden played across the screen, an announcer warned about the dire consequences of electing Howard Dean, a presidential candidate with no military or foreign policy experience. The message of the 30-second ad was abundantly clear. The messenger wasn't. The spot, which ran in some early Democratic primary states, included a tag that said it was paid for by "Americans for Jobs, Health Care and Progressive Values," but it gave no hint about who financed the group or what its agenda is beyond attacking the then-Democratic front-runner.The 2002 campaign finance law may have shut off...

Check is part of criminal investigation into whether corporate money was illegally used in the 2002 state legislative elections By Laylan Copelin AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Wednesday, February 25, 2004 When Jim Ellis, a key aide to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, was preparing to deliver money to an arm of the Republican National Committee, a DeLay ally in Texas had a blank check sent to Ellis with the amount to be filled in later. John Colyandro, executive director of DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority, said in a deposition that he had the blank check sent because Ellis had a...

<p>The Federal Election Commission yesterday voted 4-2 to place restrictions on political advocacy groups with no expressed party affiliation that use "soft money" to influence elections.</p> <p>At the same time, the six-member commission delayed a decision on a campaign-finance law that prohibits money from big businesses and unions from going to tax-exempt groups that are connected to political parties.</p>

Watching the Lehrer report on PBS right now. The discussion was about Kerry and his taking of soft money, PAC money, special interest money. The guest, David Brooks, of the NYTimes said that Kerry has taken plenty of special interest money, no more no less than the typical politician. What caught my ear was that he said Kerry was also a receiver of some money from Johnny Chung. Isn't Chung the bag man with brown paper bags of money brought to Klintoon?? Let's see what we can dig up, eh folks? G