News coverage (HERE and HERE) of the Shays II decision highlights the so-called "reformers" obvious disappointment with the Court decision that allows the FEC to continue reviewing independent advocacy groups on a case-by-case basis.

As usual their "outrage" shows no respect for First Amendment political rights.

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The United States District Court for the District of Columbia rules in favor of the FEC. 

You can read the decision HERE and CCP’s press release HERE.

On August 29 the FEC announced the imposition of a $775,000 fine on Americans Coming Together, the liberal group that worked so hard to promote John Kerry in 2004.  We are not going to argue here over whether the FEC’s decision was right or wrong, but we just want to note the utterly predictable, and utterly disconnected from reality response of the so-called "reform community," epitomized in this passage from a joint press release by Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center:

Both the long delay in resolving the ACT case and the relatively small fine imposed on ACT for almost $100 million in illegal expenditures make a powerful case for why case-by-case enforcement by itself will not work and why without proper regulations and prohibitive fines the illegal activities of 527 groups in federal elections will continue to undermine the nation’s campaign finance laws.

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“One of the biggest sources of political donations to Hillary Rodham Clinton is a tiny, lime-green bungalow that lies under the flight path from San Francisco International Airport.”  So begins a story yesterday from the Wall Street Journal, and we see come to life one of the Supreme Court’s three reasons for upholding ongoing reporting requirements for political committees: to gather the data necessary to detect violations of the contribution limitations.

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Florida Today reports a story that would be comical if it weren’t so sad. It seems that the Florida Department of State’s Division of Elections has issued an advisory opinion that says issue-oriented polling is illegal in the state.

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Today the New York Sun weighed in on the FEC rulemaking in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC.

Click the headline to read highlights from the Sun editorial.

A recent FEC ruling, highlighted in Friday’s L.A. Times, allows wealthy individuals to contribute to a celebrity’s favorite charity in exchange for having that celebrity appear at a candidate’s fundraiser.

Strangely, none of the so-called "reform" organizations expressed their concern over this ruling.  Here at CCP we wonder why.

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Watching the presidential nomination contest the past few weeks has been aggravating for those who still believe in citizens’ First Amendment rights to assemble and petition their government.

The aggravation stems from the discussion over the role and influence of lobbyists and whether or not I am, as Hillary Clinton put it so well, a "real American."

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No issue divides Americans like the war in Iraq which is why it is so important that it be debated openly in the public square.  And with a population of 300 million, which makes political pamphleteering obsolete and ineffective, the most effective means of communicating with the public is through the airwaves. 

Now, it appears that the war is going to get a complete airing over the next few weeks.

Yesterday, the Politico reported that up to $30 million may be spent on the media blitz.  And despite its critics this type of citizen outreach is exactly what the First Amendment was designed to protect.

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