The rules prohibiting coordination between super PACs, allowed to raise unlimited money, and candidates, will be bypassed this presidential election cycle.
First, it was Jeb Bush, Ben Carson and other Republican candidates who broke the coordination firewall with their superPACs. The superPAC supporting Jeb Bush was planning its own campaign data gathering, press operation, TV spots, direct mail and get-out-to-vote effort.
Then, HIllary Clinton did the same.
Another loophole: “Bush can’t coordinate with Right to Rise once he’s a candidate. Right now, while he’s still “deciding” whether he’ll run, he can talk to Right to Rise all he wants. It’s only once he makes his official declaration that the (gauzy) wall goes up. So right now, Bush and the PAC could be talking about, oh, having the PAC run TV and what the messages will be and so on […]”
The net effect is that Bush was able to raise tens of millions of dollars for his SuperPAC before declaring himself a candidate.
You might remember that Super PACs are allowed to raise unlimited money from individuals, unions and corporations. They were let loose by the Citizens United US Supreme Court decision; the Republicans in Congress blocked any effort to further restrict them after the Citizens United decision; and the FEC (Federal Elections Commission) is deadlocked with three Republican members always voting against the three Democrat members.
“The likelihood of the laws being enforced is slim,” says Ann M. Ravel, chair of the FEC. Quite a stunning quote, no? It made the front page of the New York Times.
Election watchdogs have already filed complaints with the FEC on Mar 31st. They alleged that “four potential contenders—former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker—are violating federal campaign finance laws.”More from the FEC chair: “I never want to give up, but I’m not under any illusions. People think the F.E.C. is dysfunctional. It’s worse than dysfunctional.”
If that’s the case, the path to stop this might be through the courts – but who is going to speak up?
Public employee labor unions can still coordinate with Democrats right up until election day!
Laws apply to everyone equally.
Call it bad news, or call it a giant red flag warning to the American people that we now live in an oligarchy. Maybe when the damage caused by politicians beholden only to major donors becomes more evident, we’ll wake up and amend the Constitution. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCxLwCpJ2HI