United Liberty
McCain-Feingold
Citizens United Decision and Free Speech
Tue, 01/26/2010 - 4:29pm | posted by Matt Wittlief
The Supreme Court issued a significant ruling this week on the subject of campaign financing. It is a complex subject and the opinions authored by the Court illustrate this complexity checking in at 183 pages (read here if you dare). I have read most of them and will offer my thoughts.
In the 2008 election cycle, a group called Citizens United produced a film called Hillary: The Movie which was apparently quite an unfavorable depiction of the Presidential hopeful. Citizens United intended to distribute the film as an on-demand pay-per-view on DirecTV. The commercials which supported the film were deemed an “electioneering communication” by the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia and the film was not shown. Citizen United is a non-profit 501(c)4 corporation which has special non-profit status in that, unlike standard non-profit 501(c)3 charitable corporations, they can participate in the political process via lobbying and and campaigns. If this sounds complicated already, then welcome to the world of campaign finance in the United States.
NRA Endorses McCain, Despite His Anti-2nd-Amendment Record
Fri, 10/10/2008 - 3:02am | posted by Shana Kluck
This week the National Rifle Association, universally considered one of the nation’s most powerful political institutions, endorsed Senator John McCain for President, a decision that has to leave many of its members scratching their heads. Whether or not you support the right of an individual to keep and bear arms, you have to question the reasoning behind the endorsement, given the specific candidate and the current political outlook.
Article excerpt from NRA’s Political Magazine “America’s1st Freedom” - June 2001
Clarence Thomas Defends Supreme Courts Campaign Finance Decision
Sat, 02/06/2010 - 11:36am | posted by Jason Pye
Former FEC Chairman on McCain and Campaign Finance
Fri, 10/31/2008 - 12:48am | posted by Shana Kluck
Former head of the Federal Election Commission, now a law professor at Capital University, talks with reason.tv about how campaign finance laws punish political speech. And why John McCain won’t shake Smith’s hand.
The Three McCains
Sat, 08/30/2008 - 1:43am | posted by Dr. John Killian
Understanding Senator John McCain is no easy task. Senator McCain was elected to the US House of Representatives and four years later moved up to the US Senate. When McCain was first elected, I dealt with some active conservatives from Arizona who knew McCain. These people were enamored with the Senator and told me to watch for him, further stating that John McCain was a conservative leader who would follow in the footsteps of Ronald Reagan.
Note with me the three phases in the career of Senator John McCain.
Ron Chimes In On Write-Ins
Mon, 06/16/2008 - 4:39am | posted by Shana Kluck
When Ron Paul was asked by Reason Magazines’s Dave Weigel about write-in ballots, he had this to say-
“I don’t think that’s very productive,” Paul said of a write-in campaign. “They could do it, of course, but in most of the states it won’t count. If they can change the rules in a primary and not count all the votes, imagine what they could do with write-in votes!”
Update on McCain’s FEC woes
Thu, 05/08/2008 - 9:29pm | posted by Shana Kluck
Senator McCain’s possible FEC violations were previously blogged about here- McCain snared in his own FEC trap?
The New York Times, reports that it appears President Bush may be attempting to come to McCain’s rescue by announcing three nominees for the FEC agency. If they are confirmed, this would give the commission the quorum they need to vote and decide whether McCain has been released from the matching funds program or not.
McCain Snared in His Own FEC Trap?
Mon, 04/21/2008 - 9:28pm | posted by Shana Kluck
Senator McCain, campaign-finance-reformer extraordinaire, may be facing charges of FEC violations for going beyond the spending cap set when a candidate accepts matching funds. McCain used the promise of claiming the matching funds, in order to secure a 4 million dollar loan last December to bolster his flagging campaign fund-raising. But after his strong showing in the Super Tuesday primaries, he sent a letter to the FEC, stating that he was withdrawing from the program. The FEC still has not met to vote on the matter, so there’s a question as to whether McCain has been excused from the program or not.
