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This year’s long election is over. We know who won
and lost – and thankfully we did not have a repeat
of the 2000 elections not knowing for weeks who
ultimately would serve as our President. But a
critical question remains - how did the American
people perceive this year’s election campaign? The
results of a recent Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press are startling. Nearly 72
percent of respondents believed there was more
mud-slinging or negative campaigning in this
election than ever before - double the percentage of
four years ago. Where did this mud-slinging come
from? Certainly, though not exclusively from the
individual campaigns - but also from outside groups,
known as 527s. These 527 organizations (named
after the section of Internal Revenue Code that
governs the tax treatment of political
organizations), while not officially affiliated with
any particular campaign, are political groups that
have infused tremendous amounts of money into this
year’s election with the sole purpose of influencing
the results. This year they raised a total of over
$289 million which was spent on independent ads -
many of which were the most caustic of the election
season - and get out the vote activities.
The Congress passed, the President signed into
law, and the Supreme Court upheld the Bipartisan
Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) to absolutely remove the
influence of money in politics. That is why I joined
with Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Russ Feingold
(D-WI), and Jim Jeffords (I-VT) in crafting BCRA,
because the American people have to believe in the
integrity of our political system.
BCRA bans the use of soft money by any
organization that receives or spends $1,000 or more
to influence federal candidate elections, and limits
the amount of "hard money" donations that candidates
and political parties and organizations can receive.
Senator Jeffords and I drafted a critical provision
to BCRA that prohibits the airing of electioneering
ads on TV and radio within 60 days of a general
election if not paid for by hard money.
But how could these groups be allowed to raise
and spend this money after the passage of this
historic campaign finance reform legislation? That
is a good question. Unfortunately, money in politics
is an insidious thing - and a loophole in our
campaign finance system was taken advantage of with
money going to existing or new 527 groups with the
sole purpose of influencing the election.
The Federal Elections Commission (FEC), the
federal agency that overseas our federal campaigns,
has done nothing in response. The FEC has not
enforced BCRA against the 527 groups, claiming that
it does not have the authority. Those of us in
Congress who have long fought to clean up our
elections have implored the FEC to act, but they
have refused.
We have been left with little choice other than
to compel them to act. I have joined Senators
John McCain (R-AZ), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Joseph
Lieberman (D-CT), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Jim
Jeffords (I-VT) in cosponsoring the "527 Reform Act
of 2004," to bring these 527 groups under the intent
of BCRA by closing this loophole that has allowed
these groups to flourish. The "527 Reform Act"
expressly grants the FEC the authority to apply BCRA
to those groups that qualify for Section 527 status.
It also preserves states' rights by providing for
situations where a 527 group is engaged in
activities affecting both federal and state
elections like "get out the vote" initiatives. The
bill provides that, for all expenditures that are
not attributable to a specific candidate, at least
50% of such expenditures must be made with money
that was raised in compliance with BCRA.
It is unfortunate that this law is even
necessary, but with the Federal Elections Commission
refusing to take action against these groups on
their own, we are left with no choice. Under the
leadership of John McCain and Russ Feingold, the
Senate must act quickly before our next election
cycle gets underway. The Congress must to preserve
the spirit of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, so
we truly can reduce once and for all the influence
of money on our political process.
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