Why is McCain facing restrictions on campaign spending?

[Ivan Seeking]

The nation's top federal election official told Sen. John McCain yesterday that he cannot immediately withdraw from the presidential public financing system as he had requested, a decision that threatens to dramatically restrict his spending until the general election campaign begins in the fall.

...But McCain's attempts to build up his campaign coffers before a general election contest appeared to be threatened by the stern warning yesterday from Federal Election Commission Chairman David M. Mason, a Republican. Mason notified McCain that the commission had not granted his Feb. 6 request to withdraw from the presidential public financing system.

The implications of that could be dramatic. Last year, when McCain's campaign was starved for cash, he applied to join the financing system to gain access to millions of dollars in federal matching money. He was also permitted to use his FEC certification to bypass the time-consuming process of gathering signatures to get his name on the ballot in several states, including Ohio. [continued]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/21/AR2008022103141.html?hpid=topnews

Here is the catch: In order to even consider that he might be released from the fifty-three million dollar limit that he agreed to, there needs to be a 4/6 majority in an FEC vote to allow it. But there are four vacant seats at the FEC so a vote isn't possible! In addition to that, he used public funds as collateral for a loan, so this may also bind him legally to using the public funds. And finally, some pundits are saying that he may not have the legal option to resign from the funds now in any event. So, since he has spent about forty-nine million, this all means that he only has ~ four million dollars left to spend betweem now and the convention.

As one pundit observed, McCain may soon be doing press conferences from his front yard.

So here are my questions:

1). With all of that experience, how did he allow himself to get into such a mess?
2). Is this what we are to expect from an old pro?

Obama has tons of money.

 

[wildman]

McCain always seems to be in money trouble. Didn't stop him in the past...

 

[chemisttree]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/21/AR2008022103141.html?hpid=topnews

Here is the catch: In order to even consider that he might be released from the fifty-three million dollar limit that he agreed to, there needs to be a 4/6 majority in an FEC vote to allow it. But there are four vacant seats at the FEC so a vote isn't possible! In addition to that, he used public funds as collateral for a loan, so this may also bind him legally to using the public funds. And finally, some pundits are saying that he may not have the legal option to resign from the funds now in any event. So, since he has spent about forty-nine million, this all means that he only has ~ four million dollars left to spend betweem now and the convention.

As one pundit observed, McCain may soon be doing press conferences from his front yard.

So here are my questions:

1). With all of that experience, how did he allow himself to get into such a mess?
2). Is this what we are to expect from an old pro?

Obama has tons of money.

McCain did NOT use the Federal $ as collateral... that is a lie. Dean did the same as did Gephart. This is settled law and the law says that he can withdraw.

McCain hasn't received a dime yet from the fund much less spent it.
How did he get into this mess? What mess?
Is this what we are to expect from an old pro? :rofl: McCain wrote that law! Who better to know just what options he has than McCain? Oh yeah, Howard Dean. The same Howard Dean that is filing the complaint with the FEC. That's rich!

 

[russ_watters]

If I were McCain, I'd take the next 6 months off campaigning anyway. What's the point?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

McCain did NOT use the Federal $ as collateral... that is a lie.

It reported on CNN and in the Washington Post that he did. Have you some reason to say it's a lie?

From the link:

The second issue is more complicated. It involves a $1 million loan McCain obtained from a Bethesda bank in January. The bank was worried about his ability to repay the loan if he exited the federal financing program and started to lose in the primary race. McCain promised the bank that, if that happened, he would reapply for matching money and offer those as collateral for the loan.

Do you just make blanket statements without having any information?

Dean did the same as did Gephart. This is settled law and the law says that he can withdraw.

Apparently it is not the same thing, which is why he is now being investigated for violating the law. See the next post.

McCain hasn't received a dime yet from the fund much less spent it.
How did he get into this mess? What mess?
Is this what we are to expect from an old pro? :rofl: McCain wrote that law! Who better to know just what options he has than McCain? Oh yeah, Howard Dean. The same Howard Dean that is filing the complaint with the FEC. That's rich!

It was also reported that he has spent 49 of 54 million that he is allowed to spend.

If the FEC refuses McCain's request to leave the system, his campaign could be bound by a potentially debilitating spending limit until he formally accepts his party's nomination. His campaign has already spent $49 million, federal reports show. Knowingly violating the spending limit is a criminal offense that could put McCain at risk of stiff fines and up to five years in prison.

Of course it has been painfully clear that many or most Republicans have shown little regard for the law for the last eight years.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

This is from the DNC.

I'm Joe Sandler, General Counsel for the DNC. Yesterday we filed a complaint with the FEC after John McCain decided to break the law by ignoring the rules laid out as part of the federal matching funds program.

I don't know if you saw the news, but the press covered the complaint all day. John McCain himself directly responded to Governor Dean at a press conference, saying "We're doing exactly what Howard Dean did in a previous election and what the FEC ruled in the case of Congressman Gephardt."

But that's a lie -- John McCain isn't doing what Governor Dean and Congressman Gephardt did at all.

Governor Dean and Congressman Gephardt followed the law and were granted written permission by the FEC to withdraw from the federal matching funds program.

To prove it, we have a copy of the letter Governor Dean received from the FEC in 2003 granting him permission to drop out. If McCain is doing "exactly what Howard Dean did," he'll have no trouble producing a letter of his own.

But you and I know McCain's lying -- he doesn't have a letter like that from the FEC. Not only has he refused to get permission, he's been warned by FEC Chairman David Mason that he can't unilaterally drop out of the program. That's why we filed the complaint in the first place, and it's why tens of thousands of Americans like you signed your support.

Read Governor Dean's letter from the FEC, and sign your support for our complaint right here:

http://www.democrats.org/McCainBusted

John McCain abused the system to keep his campaign afloat until he could raise more money from special interests and lobbyists. Taxpayers don't want their money to be used by Washington politicians to help raise more money from lobbyists -- is this McCain's idea of ethics and reform?

Thanks to you, this "maverick reformer" is feeling the pressure of his own hypocrisy. From staffing his campaign with a team of lobbyists to breaking campaign finance laws, his total lack of integrity has never been more clear.

Keep it up,

Joe Sandler
General Counsel
Democratic National Committee

 

[Ivan Seeking]

If I were McCain, I'd take the next 6 months off campaigning...

Or a year or two for all it will matter.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

Anybody see that last question in the Democratic debate just now? Obama was like, “Yeah, Hillary would make an awesome nominee too” and then spent most of his response attacking McCain. :tongue2:

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[Ivan Seeking]

Anybody see that last question in the Democratic debate just now? Obama was like, “Yeah, Hillary would make an awesome nominee too” and then spent most of his response attacking McCain. :tongue2:

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CRUD! No, but thanks for reminding me.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

From the Colbert Report tonight:

“There once was a man named McCain
Who had the whole White House to gain
But he was quite a hobbyist
At b▒▒▒ng his lobbyist
So much for his '08 campaign.”​

⚛​

 

[russ_watters]

Or a year or two for all it will matter.

I'm not sure what it is that makes you that confident, but ok...

 

[CaptainQuasar]

I'm not sure what it is that makes you that confident, but ok...

Yeah, I agree with russ. I like Obama but McCain is a pretty upstanding guy. I have voted for him in a primary in the past.

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[russ_watters]

Opinions about McCain aren't what I'm talking about. I'm talking about election predictions. If it were possible to accurately predict the outcome of an election 6 months in advance, we wouldn't be discussing McCain and Obama here in the first place.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

Opinions about McCain aren't what I'm talking about. I'm talking about election predictions. If it were possible to accurately predict the outcome of an election 6 months in advance, we wouldn't be discussing McCain and Obama here in the first place.

Well yes, it's certainly not impossible to mess up predicting the outcome of an election. Like, if George Bush were running in this election it's technically possible that he would win.

BTW - “McCain and Obama”? Are you saying that it's possible to predict the outcome of party nominations but not the election? I'm just sayin'.

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[CaptainQuasar]

You know, I think we may have just gotten our wires crossed there, russ. When I said “McCain is a pretty upstanding guy” I was simply saying that he's electable, he doesn't look like a dud Republican nominee to me. Though I do like him.

⚛​

 

[russ_watters]

I know what you were talking about - you apparently still don't know what I was talking about. Neither Obama nor McCain were front-runners 6 months ago in the media's polls and today both are leading. I think Ivan was commenting that a McCain loss in the general election is a foregone conclusion and the media's polls would seem to indicate that. I'm saying that those polls are very near completely useless.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

I know what you were talking about

Then why did you say

Opinions about McCain aren't what I'm talking about.

Seems like your wires are still crossed. That's a funny way to agree with me that he's not a dud front-runner.

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[chemisttree]

It reported on CNN and in the Washington Post that he did. Have you some reason to say it's a lie?

Uh, yeah.

Lawyers for the bank said in their own letter Monday that the loan agreement was carefully drafted to give McCain the opportunity to withdraw from public financing during the primary elections. They said the loan terms specifically excluded from the collateral any potential share of public matching funds McCain was entitled to receive.

http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/news/story.jsp?floc=ne-main-9-l1&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20080225%2F2015089555.htm&sc=1131
You should know better than to believe anything that CNN and the Washington Post reports that might require some journalistic integrity. They slavishly reported Dean's slanderous assertions as facts... that's not journalism. It's a 527 organization.

Do you just make blanket statements without having any information?

No, but apparently you do...

Apparently it is not the same thing, which is why he is now being investigated for violating the law.

Is he being investigated? Or is this just another of your unsourced opinions? Do you even understand the pertinent law? I didn't think so.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I know that McCain has his name on the McCain-Feingold Act, but that alone doesn't prove that he wrote it, or even that he read it, as I understand the way my servants do my bidding.

This was taken from the link:

The second issue is more complicated. It involves a $1 million loan McCain obtained from a Bethesda bank in January. The bank was worried about his ability to repay the loan if he exited the federal financing program and started to lose in the primary race. McCain promised the bank that, if that happened, he would reapply for matching money and offer those as collateral for the loan. While McCain's aides have argued that the campaign was careful to make sure that they technically complied with the rules, Mason indicated that the question needs further FEC review.

I must admit, I didn't read the McCain-Feingold Act. But I know the difference between "did offer matching money for collateral" and "would offer matching money for collateral". Is the difference important in this context?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Uh, yeah. http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/news/story.jsp?floc=ne-main-9-l1&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20080225%2F2015089555.htm&sc=1131

From your link:

But FEC Chairman David Mason, in a letter to McCain last week, said the senator must show that he did not use the promise of future public funds to help secure the loan and asked McCain to explain three specific provisions in the loan agreement.

And it continues:

Mason also said McCain must receive approval from four members of the six-member commission before withdrawing from the system.

Such approval is doubtful in the short term because the commission has four vacancies and cannot convene a quorum.

You should know better than to believe anything that CNN and the Washington Post reports that might require some journalistic integrity. They slavishly reported Dean's slanderous assertions as facts... that's not journalism. It's a 527 organization.

They report the news. This was news.

No, but apparently you do...

It's not that hard: I posted a link. You didn't.

Is he being investigated? Or is this just another of your unsourced opinions? Do you even understand the pertinent law? I didn't think so.

I posted a link from the DNC. Apparently the FEC doesn't understand the law either. Oh yes, and as far as the loan: The claim is that he drafted the loan in such as way so as to avoid any problems with the law, but in either case this about the conditions of the loan and not the election law itself.

The other question is whether or not McCain will violate the terms of the public funding without approval, which would be a criminal offense.