McCain faces potential FEC dilemma

[KBig]

McCain faces potential FEC dilemma (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/21/mccain-faces-potential-fec-crisis/)
Posted: 12:00 PM ET
(CNN) — Likely Republican nominee John McCain – who has tangled with potential Democratic rival Barack Obama over public financing of their general election campaigns – was told by the Federal Election Commission Thursday that his own bid to withdraw from the primary season version of that system may have hit some roadblocks.
The February 19 letter, which was released by the commission Thursday, comes several weeks after the Arizona senator’s campaign thought he had withdrawn from that system and the spending limits it imposes.
The FEC said in the letter to McCain’s campaign released Thursday that there were two issues preventing them from accepting that request.
The commission needs to vote on his application – but a battle between President Bush and Congress over potential FEC nominees means they have not had the quorum needed to decide on such a request so far this year.
They also say they want to learn more about a loan McCain received where potential payouts to come under the public financing system may have been used as collateral.
The McCain team has insisted that its existing request was never part of the terms of the loan, merely the possibility of future payouts – but in its letter, the FEC asks the campaign to provide more information about the terms of that agreement before it rules on whether or not McCain will be required to remain within the federal financing system.
If his withdrawal is denied, then McCain may have already spent more on his presidential bid than is allowed under FEC guidelines, and would not be able to spend more until he receives his party’s nomination this summer.
Related: FEC chair: McCain can't drop out of public financing system (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/21/mccain.fec.ap/index.html)

–CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

[dj-chefron]

If we had a independent media the minute McNutty raised this issue they would have called him on his hypocrisy.

[ClubMantra]

McCain faces potential FEC dilemma (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/21/mccain-faces-potential-fec-crisis/)
Posted: 12:00 PM ET
(CNN) — Likely Republican nominee John McCain – who has tangled with potential Democratic rival Barack Obama over public financing of their general election campaigns – was told by the Federal Election Commission Thursday that his own bid to withdraw from the primary season version of that system may have hit some roadblocks.
The February 19 letter, which was released by the commission Thursday, comes several weeks after the Arizona senator’s campaign thought he had withdrawn from that system and the spending limits it imposes.
The FEC said in the letter to McCain’s campaign released Thursday that there were two issues preventing them from accepting that request.
The commission needs to vote on his application – but a battle between President Bush and Congress over potential FEC nominees means they have not had the quorum needed to decide on such a request so far this year.
They also say they want to learn more about a loan McCain received where potential payouts to come under the public financing system may have been used as collateral.
The McCain team has insisted that its existing request was never part of the terms of the loan, merely the possibility of future payouts – but in its letter, the FEC asks the campaign to provide more information about the terms of that agreement before it rules on whether or not McCain will be required to remain within the federal financing system.
If his withdrawal is denied, then McCain may have already spent more on his presidential bid than is allowed under FEC guidelines, and would not be able to spend more until he receives his party’s nomination this summer.
Related: FEC chair: McCain can't drop out of public financing system (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/21/mccain.fec.ap/index.html)

–CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand


The latest allegation is McNutt had a tryst with some bimbo. Girlfriend ain't no boxy chocolate. Tryin' to make it seem like old boy still got it...after 2 Cialis and 2 Viagras, maybe he rose to the occasion...more like lip service. :rofl5: :rofl5: :rofl5:

[D J 1 3 8]

Girlfriend ain't no boxy chocolate.

http://smiliesftw.com/x/ugh.gif

[dj-chefron]

Check this out on campaign financing
"Dear John..."
by Adam B
Thu Feb 21, 2008 at 12:25:28 PM PST
If yesterday was all about what you can get away with without a functioning Federal Election Commission, today's about the downside of an absence of a functioning FEC for a presidential candidate. Because if you need four votes for the FEC to do anything, you might also need those four votes for it to not do something, as John McCain has now learned.

See, John McCain send the FEC a letter purporting to withdraw from public financing for the primaries, despite his earlier submission for and certification of $5,812,197.35 in matching funds. FEC Chairman David Mason, a Republican (and one of two remaining Commissioners), has written back to Sen. McCain:

[W]e consider your letter as a request that the Commission withdraw its previous certifications. Just as 2 U.S.C. s.437c(c) required an affirmative vote of four Commissioners to make these certifications, it requires an affirmative vote of four Commissioners to withdraw them. Therefore, the Commission will consider your request at such time as it has a quorum.

Translation: John McCain, you're still locked in to the matching funds system at least until the Senate fills some of the FEC vacancies. Given that by January 31, Maverick had already spent $49,650,185.36 of the estimated $54M which would be his limit between now and the Convention under the matching funds program ... umm, yeah, that's a problem, and I foresee a great many packets of ramen noodle soup in his campaign's immediate future.

The letter goes on to make an even more important point -- that McCain still must explain to the Commission's satisfaction why his use of the certifications (and potential future certifications) in obtaining the bank loans did not already commit him to the matching funds program, a point I highlighted on Monday. Josh Marshall explains it:

Back in August McCain opted into the public financing system for the primaries. Then in December he needed to come up with some cash quickly. Well, no problem. He was already guaranteed over $5 million from the feds. So all he needed to do was put that guarantee down as collateral for the loan.

Only McCain didn't want to do that because once he formally made the federally-guaranteed money collateral then he gave up his right to later opt back out of the system.

But, he really, really needed the money. So McCain, along with his campaign finance lawyer Trevor Potter (whom I've met and is a very sharp guy) came up with a workaround. It went like this. McCain wouldn't make the guarantee collateral. But he promised that if his campaign tanked he would opt out of the system and then opt back in. This would mean remaining a candidate even after he knew he wasn't really in the race in order to a) get back the public money to pay his creditors and b) assure he could sign the original loan note with the de facto collateral while nonetheless maintaining his ability to once again opt out of the public financing system at any one of many possible future junctures at which his campaign might pop back from life support and it would be in his interest to go back to raising money from donors.

Of course, McCain's campaign did come off the mat. And since he now wants to raise and spend as much as possible before the end of the summer, earlier this month he did actually opt back out. The FEC, the outfit that enforces the campaign finance laws, says McCain's not allowed to opt out. But whatever, he opted out anyway.

Explain to me how this guy gets out of the gate attacking anyone else about honoring pledges tied to the campaign finance system.

I

[The Buddy Love Show]

The mans name is McCain not McNutt. Can't use those tactics then cry about "Osama"

[dj-chefron]

The mans name is McCain not McNutt. Can't use those tactics then cry about "Osama"You are right.The only reason I call him McNutty is because he wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years but in the future I will refer to him with his real name.

[The Buddy Love Show]

This is history repeating. McCain is accused of interceding with federal agencies on behalf of freinds/lobbyists once again. His campaign would like folk to focus on the sizzle (the sexual aspect of this tawdry mess) and not the steak (he's easily corrupted by money)

from the Times article:

Mr. Keating, a Phoenix financier and real estate developer, became an early sponsor and, soon, a friend. He was a man of great confidence and daring, Mr. McCain recalled in his memoir. “People like that appeal to me,” he continued. “I have sometimes forgotten that wisdom and a strong sense of public responsibility are much more admirable qualities.”

During Mr. McCain’s four years in the House, Mr. Keating, his family and his business associates contributed heavily to his political campaigns. The banker gave Mr. McCain free rides on his private jet, a violation of Congressional ethics rules (he later said it was an oversight and paid for the trips). They vacationed together in the Bahamas. And in 1986, the year Mr. McCain was elected to the Senate, his wife joined Mr. Keating in investing in an Arizona shopping mall.

Mr. Keating had taken over the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association and used its federally insured deposits to gamble on risky real estate and other investments. He pressed Mr. McCain and other lawmakers to help hold back federal banking regulators.

For years, Mr. McCain complied. At Mr. Keating’s request, he wrote several letters to regulators, introduced legislation and helped secure the nomination of a Keating associate to a banking regulatory board.

By early 1987, though, the thrift was careering toward disaster. Mr. McCain agreed to join several senators, eventually known as the Keating Five, for two private meetings with regulators to urge them to ease up. “Why didn’t I fully grasp the unusual appearance of such a meeting?” Mr. McCain later lamented in his memoir.

When Lincoln went bankrupt in 1989 — one of the biggest collapses of the savings and loan crisis, costing taxpayers $3.4 billion — the Keating Five became infamous. The scandal sent Mr. Keating to prison and ended the careers of three senators, who were censured in 1991 for intervening. Mr. McCain, who had been a less aggressive advocate for Mr. Keating than the others, was reprimanded only for “poor judgment” and was re-elected the next year.