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WaPo on the McPickle

By Josh Zaharoff
Posted on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 09:44:16 AM EST

The Washington Post weighs in on John McCain's dealings with the presidential primary matching funds, concluding rightly that the "matching system is woefully outdated," and chiming in on the in-or-out question without making a judgment.

Second, and more problematic, is the question of whether Mr. McCain used his eligibility for matching funds as collateral for a $4 million loan; if so, Mr. McCain would be deemed to have used the matching fund program to his financial advantage, even without having received any money, and so would be bound by the spending limits. Mr. McCain didn't directly pledge the expected matching funds as security, but he did promise that if his campaign went badly, he would stay in the race and seek matching funds in order to be able to repay the bank. The McCain campaign and the bank say that this does not rise to the level of using the FEC certification as collateral for the loan and that they were careful to avoid that trap. The DNC has filed a complaint with the FEC asserting that it does rise to such a level and that Mr. McCain is therefore stuck in the matching funds system. However the loan terms are understood, this is not Mr. McCain's proudest moment as a reformer: He derived some benefit from the matching funds system and then abandoned it when that was to his advantage.
It's a tragedy that we have no functional FEC to address this.  The Post misses one additional aspect of the public funds question, which is that McCain apparently used his initial matching funds certification to get on the Ohio ballot, avoiding the costly and lengthy process of qualifying for the ballot that a non-publicly-funded candidate must undergo.  That, too, should be factored into the question of whether he is stuck in the system or not.


Tags: john mccain, public financing, election 08, washington post (all tags)


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WaPo on the McPickle :: 1 Comment

Liberal Cause ignores Democratic scandal

What has become almost typical and expected of Common Cause, to ignore negative stories of corruption, fraud and inappropriate behaviour by Democrats can be seen again here, while the rest of the news media is up in arms, Liberal Cause convienently ignores this story:  

NEW YORK --  Democratic NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer's political career teetered on the brink of collapse Monday after the corruption-fighting politician once known as "Mr. Clean" was accused of paying for a romp with a high-priced call girl.

The Democrat faced immediate calls to step down after a news conference in which a glassy-eyed Spitzer, his shellshocked wife at his side, apologized to his family and the people of New York.

"I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself," said the 48-year-old father of three teenage girls. "I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family."

He did not discuss his political future and ignored shouted questions about whether he would resign. And he gave no details of what he was apologizing for.

But Spitzer was clearly examining his legal options; a spokesman said the governor had retained the Manhattan law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, one of the nation's biggest.

Spitzer was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet in a Washington hotel room the night before Valentine's Day with a prostitute from a call-girl business known as the Emperors Club VIP, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still going on.

To read more on this dishonest Democrat use the link below:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,336649,00.html

by Nadersupporter on Tue Mar 11, 2008 at 03:02:54 AM EST


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