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Campaign Finance Reform!
Mar. 20th, 2002 08:12 amWoo hoo! The Senate passed the Campaign Finance Reform bill this week, with *just* enough votes to overcome the filibuster -- 60-40. Bush has said he'll sign whatever CFR bill they send him, because he can't afford to appear opposed to reform,especially given the ties between his administration and Enron. Besides, Bush and his machine are a private-fundraising juggernaut -- he'll suffer the new restrictions less than his opponents in 2004.
What comes next, though, are the court challenges. Everybody's favorite constitutional lawyer Kenneth Starr will lead the challenge, which will be fast-tracked to the Supreme Court.
Bit o' background: in 1974, the SC upheld the post-Nixon campaign finance laws that are still in effect today. So limits and reporting requirements have in principle been deemed constitutional. However there's an Equal Protection challenge brewing because this bill limits soft money from political parties but not other entities, and a First Amendment challenge to the limits on attack ads within 30 days of an election. (Does the phrase "Equal Protection" remind you of any other big SC cases in recent years?)
I'm not that worried about the FA challenge, because attack ads aren't banned, they just now have to be financed with hard (regulated) money rather than soft, and the money sources must be disclosed. But...
Ever since the SC decided the last presidential election in favor of Bush, I have no confidence at all that that majority of Justices have an undistorted interpretation of the Constitution when the power of the Powers That Be is at stake. So, I have an aching premonition that the same 5-4 majority will strike down the new limits on soft money for some Equal Protection reason, and Big Business will continue to fund mass-media-driven election wins for our lifetimes. :-( :-( :-(
What comes next, though, are the court challenges. Everybody's favorite constitutional lawyer Kenneth Starr will lead the challenge, which will be fast-tracked to the Supreme Court.
Bit o' background: in 1974, the SC upheld the post-Nixon campaign finance laws that are still in effect today. So limits and reporting requirements have in principle been deemed constitutional. However there's an Equal Protection challenge brewing because this bill limits soft money from political parties but not other entities, and a First Amendment challenge to the limits on attack ads within 30 days of an election. (Does the phrase "Equal Protection" remind you of any other big SC cases in recent years?)
I'm not that worried about the FA challenge, because attack ads aren't banned, they just now have to be financed with hard (regulated) money rather than soft, and the money sources must be disclosed. But...
Ever since the SC decided the last presidential election in favor of Bush, I have no confidence at all that that majority of Justices have an undistorted interpretation of the Constitution when the power of the Powers That Be is at stake. So, I have an aching premonition that the same 5-4 majority will strike down the new limits on soft money for some Equal Protection reason, and Big Business will continue to fund mass-media-driven election wins for our lifetimes. :-( :-( :-(
