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Advocacy Blog
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Focus On FEC Coordination Rule with an Early 2008 Presidential Race
BNA Money and Politics ($$) reports today on the latest in the clash between the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) and the sponsors of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). Reps. Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Martin Meehan (D-MA) have warned the FEC that what we might see before the 2008 elections are federal candidates relying on corporations, unions, or wealthy individuals to supply unlimited funding for advertising early in the 2008 race. Shays and Martin Meehan have filed a lawsuit objecting to these coordination rules. This is the third lawsuit Shays and Meehan have brought against the FEC, making the case known as Shays III. They have also introduced legislation (H.R. 421) that would eliminate the FEC and replace it with an entirely new agency.
In the 2008 presidential race, the tougher restrictions will not take effect until September, 120 days before the first presidential caucus in Iowa set for next January. Until then, according to critics, the FEC rule allows a presidential candidate to write an ad script, avoiding express advocacy, and send it to a corporation, union, or wealthy individual backer to pay the entire cost of production and air time. That result, critics contend, violates the fundamental legal prohibition against companies and unions financing federal campaigns and the principle that individual contributions to candidates should be limited.
Posted by Amanda Adams
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