Topic: Presidential Campaign 2008
John McCain Accused of Breaking the law Some people are saying that John McCain is breaking the law.by Kipper Mathews
(Libertarian)
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Some people are saying (especially the DNP) that John McCain is breaking the law by ignoring campaign spending restrictions for the Republican primary while asking for federal matching funds to use as collateral for a loan to keep his campaign going.
Now that money from lobbyists has started coming in for his campaign, he is trying to take back his promise he made a few months ago and wants nothing to do with federal campaign finance laws.
A complaint has been filed by the DNP with the FEC demanding that John McCain be held accountable to the campaign finance laws. A few months back McCain applied for and was approved to receive federal matching funds for his campaign. However he wasn't able to get enough support to fund his campaign and was forced to apply for a $4ml line of credit and used his federal matching funds for collateral.
When he took the federal funding he agreed not to spend more than $57ml until the Republican convention. However as of today he has spent $49 ml leaving a scant $10ml that needs to last until September.
He recently wrote a letter to the FEC telling them he was backing out without FEC approval. Legally you must be given approval before you can withdraw from the agreement. He does not want to ask for permission to withdraw because he doesn't want to accept funding restrictions he agreed to when he put the money up for collateral. The DNP says he is "ripping the page right from George Bush's play book and (HE) is ignoring the laws when they aren't convenient and hoping no one will notice."
VIEW POINT:
Will we ever have a system again, where politicians are held accountable when they break the law, or are we just going to keep saying "Oh Well" and make it easy for them to do what ever they want to?
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2008 Kipper Mathews, all rights reserved.
Published: Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Last modified: Tuesday, March 4, 2008
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Posted By: Walt Thiessen
Date: 2008-02-26 06:02:17
What's truly awful about this is that McCain is one of the original authors of this campaign finance law he's now complaining about. McCain-Feingold, also known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 is one of the worst laws this country has ever produced, and it has helped insure that incumbents have almost no fear of losing an election. Now that he finds himself caught in a web of his own making, he's effectively changing the rules in midstream. This is undoubtedly a preview of coming attractions if McCain somehow wins the White House: the law applies to everyone but the lawmakers.
Of course, America is used to that sort of behavior, because we've already had it with President Bush's administration.
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2008 Kipper Mathews, all rights reserved.