Now that another loophole of McCain-Feingold has been exposed and is potentially subject to being closed Democrats have decided they are opposed to campaign finance reform.
According to the front page of The Hill this morning, the House lobbying-reform bill can be expected to include restrictions on 527 soft money groups originally proposed by Federal Election Commission Chairman Michael Toner and former Commissioner Scott Thomas.
Democrats, who depend heavily on 527 groups to attack Republicans while the donors and related expenses secret, have indicated they would reject a reform bill linked to the soft-money groups.
Sen. Chris Dodd (D.-Conn), who is quoted in the piece, is attempting to shrug off this type of reform by claiming that “there is a real risk of weighing down this bill with so many campaign finance amendments that we will effectively kill it.”
The proposal would mandate that all 527 groups register with the FEC as political committees. Currently, 527 groups enjoy “loophole” status, as the groups are required to comply with spending regulations, but since no laws stipulates exactly what types of 527’s must register, many do not.
If the groups are registered, they will be required to abide by spending limits determined by McCain-Feingold and any advertisement that mentions a federal candidate would have to be funded with hard money, severely crippling groups like MoveOn.org bankrolled by the deep pockets of George Soros.
Republican National Commitee Chairman Ken Mehlman and many other Republicans targeted by left wing "shadow" 527 groups are eager to include this provision in the bill, but not date has been set for the bill's release as of yet.
