I agree 100% with Dean Barnett at Hugh Hewitt’s:
Judging by the oral arguments today in Wisconsin Right to Life v. Federal Election Commission, it looks like the most offensive element of the campaign finance “reform” abomination known as McCain-Feingold will soon be sleeping with the fishes.
Specifically, the part of the law that “blacks out” advertisements made by anyone other than the campaigns in the final six weeks of the election season was the subject of today’s hearings. Sam Alito is apparently going to be the swing vote, and that’s good news. Good news, that is, if you like the 1st Amendment and free speech, something that some people (like the sponsors of the legislation) obviously aren’t crazy about.
Unfortunately, the part of McCain-Feingold that mandates each campaign commercial end with the candidate droning, “I’m Joe Blow and I approved this message” is merely stupid and not necessarily unconstitutional. Thus, it was not part of the Wisconsin right to Life v. FEC case and we will have to hear this annoying tag-line approximately 3 million times between now and November ‘08. Every time you hear it, I urge you to think this is the kind of nonsense some legislators think is really important.
Everytime you hear the phrase “I am XXXXXX and I approve of this message,” you should say to yourself- “I will not vote for John McCain.”
For a larger write-up on the issue, check this NY Times story.
LITBMueller
Woo hoo! Now we can all watch MoveOn and Swift Boat-style ads right up to the election!!! Great!!! Can’t wait for the fear mongering from the unendorsed ads! Should be a blast!!!!
“This November, vote for Giuliani. Because, if you don’t [pictures of WTC collapse, with screams overdubbed], WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!”
Every time you’re TV show is interrupted by an abortion group’s ad telling you you must vote for Brownback to save the fetuses, I urge you to think this is the kind of nonsense some politicians think is really important.
Pb
Next bad right-wing sketch comedy short–do a horribly over-the-top parody of whatever Democratic candidate surrendering to the terrorists etc., and then at the end have a cameo by that guy who Bush never caught after 9/11 (al-Qaeda killed 3,000+ Americans? Time to invade Iraq!), saying “I’m Osama bin Laden, and I approve of this message!” Comedy gold–killer material in the Wingnutosphere.
The Other Steve
Shouldn’t this be… If you love crazy speech?
The reason that six week blackout was put in there was to stop the abusive groups who run highly abusive commercials in the last week or two before the election. They were really bad in the 2002 race.
The answer to this, of course, is a financial requirement that the groups have to report who is contributing to them on a Daily basis. Easily possible with modern computer technology.
We had a group in our local race that formed a week before the election, like a dozen guys put in $500,000 to run ads against one of the candidates. But since the group didn’t have to report until after the election, nobody was sure who was doing it.
I don’t care if you are crazy, but you don’t get to be anonymous.
Dave
But that would be a reasonable regulation. I don’t think our lawmakers are up for such quality thinking.
dslak
I really don’t see how this is a free speech issue, John, given that current precedent is that no one has a right to unrestricted access to the airwaves. Maybe you want to say that the FCC should be eliminated, but if that’s what you mean to say, just say it. Don’t pussyfoot around the issue when Bono gets fined for saying ‘fuck’ and then rediscover the unrestricted First Amendment rights people have when broadcasting, simply because John McCain helped push through a bill you don’t like.
Zifnab
None of this applies to PAC money and none of it applies to money from the campaigns themselves. If Hillary Clinton or Mitt Romney want to drop $10 millions running crazy attack ads at each other out of their own coffers, nothing stops them.
The only money this Campaign-Finance law stops is the corporate glut. When Exxon wants to drop a billion in ads telling us all that Barbara Boxer invented global warming in her basement and wants you all to stop breathing and die, this is the law that prevents them from doing that.
If people want to support an issue, they can feel free to donate up to $5000 to a PAC of their choice and up to $4600 to the political campaign of their choice. If you have more than $9600 a year to throw at political causes, then you’re probably one the douches that are flooding our public square with utter bullcrap and I won’t miss whatever Islamo-phobic/ Jesus-pimping/ anti-environmental / union-slandering hooie you plan on adding to the discussion.
Jimmmm
A lot of what candidates’ campaign ads say is downright scabrous. So what’s the harm in having a candidate sign off his or her message one last time, and in the public eye.
I only wish Bush was forced to sign off on his hit on McCain in the 2000 S.C. Primary: “Sure he was tortured by the Vietcong, but can America afford to stand behind John McCain when HE has a black baby, born out of wedlock? Ahm George Dubyah Bush and ah support this message.”
Pooh
Public Financing.
That is all.
Zifnab
It’s looking better and better. Well… unless you’re actually running for office.
Greg
I really don’t mind the “I’m ________ and I approved this message” because it’s important to know where these things are coming from. If someone’s peddling a vicious attack, they should have to stand behind it and accept the possibility of it backfiring. I mean, before we had the postage stamp sized picture in the corner of the screen with some barely readable text that was pretty worthless. This puts it front and center.
As perhaps a better example of why these things are needed, think of the harassing robocalls that occur at all hours. Some of them are many minutes long and seem to be coming from one campaign, and it’s only if you sit through the entire thing that you hear that it’s really from the other. Those need not only the announcement of who it’s from, but it should be required to be at the very beginning of the message so you can’t use it as a dirty trick (legally, anyway.) As a bonus, hearing “I’m ________ and I approved this message” at the very beginning of a call makes it very clear what type of call it is so you can hang up faster :)
downpuppy
With all the hundreds of good reasons not to vote for the increasingly unhinged pander bear, why bring up this one? At the rate he’s going, by next year he’ll be trying to start a war with Grand Fenwick.
BIRDZILLA
And the same wackos who support abortion are the same ones with SAVE THE REDWOODS,SAVE THE RAINFORESTS,SAVE THE WHALES,SAVE THE SPOTTED OWLS,SAVE THE FLOWER LOVING FLY,SAVE THE COHO SALMON,SAVE THE DOLPHINS,SAVE THE DELTA SMELT,SAVE THE SNAIL DARTER bumper stickers on their cars