Five Years After McCain-Feingold Became Law

I came across this piece by Ed Morrissey and it sums up much of what I think about this abomination - McCain Feingold Campaign Finance Reform. The legislation was not so much about campaign finance reform as a direct assault on free speech - particularly political speech.

It limits who can say what and when in the run up to elections, which is precisely what the First Amendment is designed to protect. The law prohibits certain forms of political speech about incumbent congressmen for 30 days prior to a primary election and 60 days prior to a general election. Congress passed this mess (in part because it helps incumbents), the President signed it (a huge mistake - arguably the most devastating of his tenure), and the Supreme Court even botched its analysis (on par with Dred Scott) to find that political speech could be limited in the way sought by the law.

The fact that the Bill of Rights is explicitly clear as to the nature of speech was lost on all three braches of the government.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

What part of "Congress shall make no law..." did Congress, the President and Supreme Court not understand? The three branches of the US federal government chose to ignore 220+ years of precedent, tradition, and law to find that "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech" was not nearly as absolute as anyone should expect. This wasn't about limiting fighting words or hate speech, but the very cornerstone of our nation's existence - the right to speak out against elected officials - political speech.

The rationale for passing this legislation was that it would reduce the reliance on money in campaigning, but no one with a functioning neuron can make that claim knowing that it will likely cost $500 million to become President in 2008 or that each campaign since the law was passed has broken records for spending.

The biggest spenders are now 527s, which funnel money into opposition ads and has done nothing to slow the funneling of money into the political process. Instead of knowing who is funding an individual campaign, 527s make things less transparent. 527s fund each other and money gets shifted around in huge sums.

Mark Tapscott also weighs in with a solid piece about McCain-Feingold.

So, not only has the legislation proved to be a failure at controlling the influx of money, but the limitations on free speech are there.