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03/09/2004: Fraud & Conspiracy Fraud & Conspiracy

MoveOn.org dicksmacked by McCain-Feingold
or, turnabout-is-fair-play
via CNN:

The Republican National Committee is warning television stations across the country not to run ads from the MoveOn.org Voter Fund that criticize President Bush, charging that the left-leaning political group is paying for them with money raised in violation of the new campaign-finance law.

[...]

The RNC charges that because the ads are designed to help defeat President Bush, the group cannot pay for them with unlimited "soft money" contributions but only with contributions raised in amounts less than $5,000.

Although MoveOn.org is a so-called "Section 527" organization that is legally allowed to raise soft money in unlimited amounts from donors, the new campaign-finance law prohibits the group from using those funds to pay for ads that directly attack Bush, [RNC chief counsel Jill] Vogel said.

Everybody loved McCain-Feingold because, like the dozen campaign finance laws before it, it was touted as helping to cleanse elections from the "taint" of money. Instead, like all the campaign finance reform laws before it, all it really accomplished was to further muzzle the groups and joe-sixpacks that have a beef and a right to air it, and concentrate more power among the major newsmedia outlets and wealthy and famous individuals (who can get airtime on national news and talk shows and character-assassinate any candidate without having to deal with even the mildest rebuttal).