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Campaign Finance Reform Bites MoveOn.org, Swift Boat Vets And ALL of Us

J.J. Jackson* | December 15, 2006 

Two of the most influential committees during the 2004 presidential election, Swift Boat Veterans and MoveOn.org, on Wednesday paid fines totalling $450,000 after being accused of violating federal campaign finance laws.

The Federal Election Commission, which regulates the funding of political campaigns, said it reached a settlement with the two groups, along with the League of Conservation Voters, following allegations that the groups failed to register and file disclosure reports as federal political committees, and accepted contributions in violation of federal limits.

… The FEC said, in contradiction of the rules, that MoveOn had funded television advertisements targeted to presidential battleground states in their aim to defeat President George W Bush, and that the Swift Boat Veterans had sent out direct mail attacking Mr Kerry.

And? So? Pardon me but I thought there was something called “freedom of speech” here in America! Now, if you want to make the case that these actions amounted to slanderous or libelous “speech” then you might be able to have a leg to stand on since, as a general rule, no right you have gives you the right to intentionally cause real and measurable harm to someone else. That’s the libertarian point of view anyway.

Campaign finance reform is a terrible restriction on free speech. Thanks Mr. McCain! Any more basic rights you want to strip from the American public?

With little Marxists like Gerald Hebert, of the Campaign Legal Center, and Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21 out there don’t doubt that there will be more on the way

“In the Swift Boat case, the FEC has imposed a fine of less than $300,000 on a group which raised more than $25m, illegally spent almost $20m on TV ads…and had a major impact on the 2004 presidential election,” they said in a statement.

Hey, psst … yeah you two dunderheads! I got your “illegally spent” money on free speech right here!

The New Thought Police: Inside the Left’s Assault on Free Speech and Free Minds (Book) Authors:Tammy Bruce, Laura C. Schlessinger Manufacturer:Three Rivers Press Released:28 January, 2003

Unfree Speech: The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform (Book) Authors:Bradley A. Smith Manufacturer:Princeton University Press Released:01 March, 2001

Contributor's website: http://www.libertyreborn.com




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