Free Republic

Until this morning, the federal government could limit the amount of money you contribute for political speech. Today in McCutcheon vs. FEC, the Supreme Court invalidated overall contribution limits. The federal government limited individual campaign contributions to $48,000 overall and $123,200 to everything (PACs, candidates, national parties) each cycle. The Supreme Court struck down the limits, holding that the government’s justification for limiting free speech rights – to keep money out of politics and the avoid the appearance of impropriety – failed. This decision cuts at the heart of the leftist narrative on free speech attacks. The heart of the...

MARAJ, Lebanon — For 25 years, Ali al-Jarrah managed to live on both sides of the bitterest divide running through this region. To friends and neighbors, he was an earnest supporter of the Palestinian cause, an affable, white-haired family man who worked as an administrator at a nearby school. To Israel, he appears to have been a valued spy, sending reports and taking clandestine photographs of Palestinian groups and Hezbollah since 1983.

SACRAMENTO -- A day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed his willingness to postpone the start of new legislative districts, a major backer of his ballot measure blasted the governor Thursday for retreating from his earlier demand for swift change. Los Angeles businessman Bill Mundell said his committee has gathered 900,000 signatures to place the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot, and added he is not interested in delaying its implementation past 2006. "We believed the governor when he told us that the timeline was non-negotiable," Mundell said in a prepared statement. "The people want redistricting reform now. The people have...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The son of a San Francisco supporter suspected of illegally steering state grant funds to Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's 2002 campaign treasury was improperly hired by Shelley's office after an application period that lasted only six hours, the state Personnel Board said in a report released Tuesday. The hiring practice, revealed in a damaging new 50-page report on Shelley's hiring style and personal conduct at work, has been referred to the state Attorney General's office and could put his 450-employee office on probation when the personnel board meets next month. "I'd be surprised if anyone in...

<p>Recall elections notwithstanding, chalk one up for Attorney General Bill Lockyer in early psychological skirmishing over a possible 2006 gubernatorial race.</p> <p>Lockyer's lawyers two weeks ago won a legal case against megadeveloper Angelo Tsakopoulos. The Sacramento developer is a key financial backer of state Treasurer Phil Angelides, thought to be Lockyer's chief rival for the 2006 Democratic nomination.</p>

<p>MANILA — The Philippine Supreme Court ordered the arrest yesterday of a wealthy Philippine lawmaker wanted by U.S. authorities for purportedly making illegal campaign contributions to former President Bill Clinton.</p> <p>Mark Jimenez, who ran a computer-parts business in the United States, was indicted in 1997 on 17 counts of illegally giving nearly $40,000 to Democratic Party candidates.</p>