The undermining of America's will

A few months ago, Senators Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) ensured passage of a long-awaited campaign finance reform bill. The bill, now a law, seeks to eliminate corruptive soft money from the federal election process. At the time, it seemed as if the will of the people had won after years of struggle and federal elections were finally to be rid of hundreds of millions of dirty soft money dollars. Now, it appears those hopes were premature.\nThanks to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), McCain-Feingold has been undermined. The commission is made up of six members (three Republicans and three Democrats) who are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and it is charged with enforcing the nation's federal election laws. While many thought the President's signature of McCain-Feingold meant success, this has proven not to be the case. In fact, in a column soon after President Bush's signature of the legislation, I wrote that American's can "rest assured that our government made the right decision." I was wrong.\nIf nothing else, McCain-Feingold supporters have learned to be wary when trusting the possibility of reform in Washington D.C. But what did the FEC do that was so egregious? The answer: Nothing short of gutting the legislation and undermining the will of Congress and the American people.\nFirst, the FEC narrowed the definition of what the McCain-Feingold legislation called "federal legislation activities." Money spent on these activities is subject to regulation under McCain-Feingold. The FEC flew in the face of its own general counsel's recommendations and said "federal election activities" only commence after the state's primary election candidate filing deadline (in some states, as late as August). So, thanks to the FEC, dirty soft money (raised from corporate and union donations) can be used for many purposes until very late in the election cycle.\nJust as important, the FEC crafted regulations to allow members of Congress to indirectly solicit soft money. One of the primary purposes of McCain-Feingold is to decrease the power that special interests hold over legislators due to massive soft money donations that corporations and unions can make. After all, if a corporation gives a party a million dollars after a senator has told a corporate executive he would "appreciate" the "donation," that corporation stands in a good position to exert undue influence on that senator.\nIn order to put an end to this practice, McCain-Feingold prohibits federal office holders or candidates from soliciting soft money. The FEC's general counsel recommended that "solicit" be to make a "request, suggestion or recommendation." In effect, this would mean that federal officials (members of Congress, included) can't do anything to raise soft money. But flying in the face of the legislation, the FEC ruled that to "solicit" means to explicitly "ask" for soft money. Effectively, officials can give a wink and a nod to corporate big wigs to request donations, as long as they don't explicitly ask for the money. \nAll in all, these regulations point out how political the FEC really is. But, there is something that can be done to overcome the FEC's undermining of McCain-Feingold. Supporters of the legislation will introduce resolutions to undo the commission's rules. I urge you to contact Indiana Senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh as well as your Congressman in support of these resolutions. Beyond that possibility of overruling the FEC, I can't help but be extremely disheartened. The Commission has taken one of the greatest victories the people of this country have ever seen and turned it into another reason why reform is necessary in the first place.