June 3, 2005
RULES BY WHITE LIBERALS FOR WHITE LIBERALS:
Black caucus retreats on 527s (Brian DeBose, 6/02/05, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)
Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus are teaming up with conservative Republicans to push for the first major changes in the 2002 campaign-finance reform bill, most admitting that they made a mistake in voting for the bill three years ago.
"If I had the chance to vote again, I wouldn't vote the way I voted," said Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, New York Democrat, who along with most of the CBC supported the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act after they were promised by Democratic leaders that the bill would not harm their constituents or funding bases in order to garner their support.Three years and a failed presidential election later, black politicians saw their political grass-roots organizations starved for funds under the new rules, as so-called "527s," private political groups so named for the Internal Revenue Service code provision under which they are organized were able to raise unlimited amounts of money for partisan purposes, subsequently siphoning off the cash. [...]
In the 2004 presidential election, many of the black civic groups were supplanted by 527s, which attempted to turn out the black vote on their own, a strategy that Rep. Albert R. Wynn, Maryland Democrat, said had proven to be inadequate.
Who'd have dreamt that George Soros doesn't exactly have his finger on the pulse of black America? Posted by Orrin Judd at June 3, 2005 9:23 AM
The CBC should team up with Tom DeLay and his krewe if they really want to learn about effective fundraising.
Posted by: lonbud at June 3, 2005 9:44 AMworked for The Reverend Sharpton
Posted by: oj at June 3, 2005 10:12 AMlonbud: That's our long-term goal.
Posted by: David Cohen at June 3, 2005 10:21 AMMcCain-Feingold was a dagger aimed at the N.R.A. The legislative history makes this plain. I doubt that it has had much of an impact on our operations, but of course it has had all kinds of unintended consequences,
The big loophole in it, of course, is that corporations and other institutions may chose to pay "salaries" to individuals who may then exercise their individual freedom of speech.
Posted by: Lou Gots at June 3, 2005 10:25 AMThe CBC's real mistake was believing in a promise from members of the Democratic Party leadership. Of course, it's a common malady in the Stupid Party as well.
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at June 3, 2005 11:29 AM"McCain-Feingold was a dagger aimed at the NRA"
Oddly enough, I don't see that it has had any effect other than increasing their media operation, making them spread their message more effectively.
Which brings up the first problem: the people who wrote this statute not only didn't know what they were doing, didn't understand the first amendment, and wanted to insulate themselves from constituents: they only succeeded in making trouble for themselves. Pitiful.
Posted by: Arnold F Williams at June 3, 2005 1:00 PMLou - You're right! Let's outlaw these "salaries."
Posted by: pj at June 3, 2005 1:01 PMPlease, pj, we need a kitchen-knife rule: Don't Point The Way Down The Slippery Slope. We have to stop suggesting these things and at least make them do their own work.
Posted by: David Cohen at June 3, 2005 4:08 PM