A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Christine Bowman
Since our current president was put in office in 2000 by the Supreme Court of the United States, it may be that congressional oversight of elections and their financing has become as quaint and obsolete [1] a concept as the Geneva Conventions. That would be a shame.
Yet there is no urgency evident among lawmakers or the Bush Administration to appoint and confirm replacement members to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) in time to impact this year's election. Currently, the FEC has only two sitting members; and at least four of a mandated six members are needed for a quorum. Thus, the oversight commission's "neutering." Since January, the two remaining FEC members have been forbidden to issue opinions or launch new investigations.
"... to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) -- the statute that governs the financing of federal elections. The duties of the FEC, which is an independent regulatory agency, are to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of Presidential elections.
http://www.fec.gov/info/mssion.shtml [2]
The Chicago Tribune, [3] The Washington Post [4] and The New York Times [5] have reported or commented on the troubling FEC impasse. In essence, Bush nominated a person whom the Senate Democrats will not accept. (He served temporarily as a recess appointee until January.) In turn, the Senate Republicans refuse to confirm any nominated Democrat. Bush is sitting on his hands now, unwilling to suggest a different Republican nominee.
Nice kettle of fish. And really, why should any of them budge?
Well, for one thing, presidential candidate John McCain has an issue before the Commission. When his campaign appeared to be floundering, they applied for federal financing. Then, when the campaign revived, they decided to go with private contributions. Trouble is, they may have illegally used the promise of federal funds as collateral when seeking a private bank loan. And they now have raised more money than the law allows for campaigns that opt to accept federal funding. According to the Chicago Tribune, "When the FEC has a quorum it will have to determine whether his campaign violated the law."
There are a couple of other compelling reasons that one would like some action on this mess. Another current candidate for the presidency, Barack Obama, championed a new campaign finance law last year that can't be implemented until we get some new FEC appointees confirmed. The new law requires disclosure of "bundled" campaign contributions from lobbyists. Obama and his Senate colleague Russ Feingold say the bundling disclosure requirement would "go farther than any other provision in the lobbying reform bill to shine a spotlight on the dangerous connection between money and legislation."
And a third issue currently left dangling involves the Republicans in Congress. As The Washington Post reminds us, there's a little matter of "the alleged embezzlement of possibly as much as $1 million from the National Republican Congressional Committee ..."
Okay, so maybe the Republicans would like to avoid opening that particular can of worms any wider than necessary in the months leading up to a national election.
But shouldn't they have to?
George W. Bush, Harry Reid, and Mitch McConnell are the key obstinate players in this game. But could John McCain and Barack Obama, two self-described reformers and both running for president, just make them do something?
* * *
"I can gather one thing from the president's unwillingness to resolve the Federal Election Commission problem," Reid said ... in February. "That is that they would rather have no election watchdog in place during an election year." -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, quoted in the Chicago Tribune, 4/9/08
If Mr. McConnell and Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, can't negotiate a solution, Mr. Reid should put the issue to a floor fight. This would spotlight what a party hack the Republicans want for a commission that is supposed to keep electoral poliltics clean and fair. -- Editorial, The New York Times, 12/17/07
"This is an absurd situation to be in. If another country was doing this, we'd call them a banana republic," said Fred Wertheimer [6], president of Democracy 21, one of the leading watchdogs. -- The Washington Post, 4/4/08
Resources:
FEC Nomination Impasse Stalls Disclosure of Bundling Data: Agency Cannot Set New Rules for Fundraising by Lobbyists [7] (Washington Post)
The Election Watchdogs Going Missing [9] (NY Times)
http://www.fec.gov/info/mssion.shtml [10]
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
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