McCain vs. Dean
Washington, DC — Arguing that Sen. McCain is engaged in the “height of hypocrisy” by reversing his decision to take public financing during the primary season, Democratic National Committee officials said they plan to file a complaint Monday with the Federal Election Commission.
The McCain campaign applied for federal matching funds last year but never received any FEC cash and maintains that they were on firm legal ground when they decided to withdraw from the system earlier this month. FEC spending limits would severely hamstring McCain until the RNC convention compared with Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama–neither of whom is taking public money.
However, the DNC announced that they intend to ask the FEC to investigate whether the campaign is violating any laws by opting out of the system.
“The crucial issue here is John McCain’s integrity. John McCain poses as a reformer but seems to think reforms apply to everyone but him,” DNC Chairman Howard Dean said on a media conference call Sunday. “He used taxpayer money to guarantee a loan so he could raise money from lobbyists and special interests - it’s the height of hypocrisy. This is just the latest example of his do as I say, not as I do double standard, and it’s unlikely to be the last. McCain financially benefited from this legally binding contract - he got free ballot access, saving him millions of dollars, and he secured a $4 million line of credit to keep his campaign afloat by using public financing as collateral. He should follow the law.”
In response, the McCain campaign is calling Dean’s criticism as “absurd,” arguing there is precedent for their decision and also disputing his assertion that they used their existing request for FEC funds as collateral for a loan. See Letter E of their loan request.
The campaign is also pointing out what they call “Howard’s Hypocrisy,” noting that Dean also pulled out of the FEC system after initially applying for public funds during his 2004 presidential bid. (See McCain campaign research after jump)
“Howard Dean’s hypocrisy is breathtaking given that in 2003 he withdrew from the matching funds system in exactly the same way that John McCain is doing today,” McCain Spokesman Brian Rogers said in a statement.
When asked about the issue at a press conference Friday, McCain said his campaign is proceeding with their decision to return to private financing, noting that a 2003 FEC ruling allowing former Rep. Dick Gephardt’s to opt out of the FEC system gives his campaign confidence to move forward.
“We have a precedent for it so we will proceed,” McCain said at an Indianapolis press conference.
The next move is in the hands of the FEC but with four of the six slots on the commission still vacant, a final decision on the case is unlikely any time soon, leaving the McCain campaign free to proceed with its plans.
BACKGROUND MEMO FROM McCAIN CAMPAIGN RE: FEC AND HOWARD DEAN (below)
HOWARD’S HYPOCRISY
Howard Dean Entered And Then Pulled Out Of Public Financing In 2003, Now Attacks John McCain For Doing Same Thing???
In March 2003, Dean Committed To Public Financing, Promised To Attack Any Opponent Who Opted Out: “It Will Be A Huge Issue”
In March 2003, Dean Committed To Taking Matching Funds, Said He Would Attack Any Opponent Who Opted Out Of System: “It Will Be A Huge Issue … I Think Most Democrats Believe In Campaign Finance Reform.” “Howard Dean committed Friday to taking taxpayer dollars to finance his presidential campaign … He promised to make it an issue in the Democratic primaries if any of his rivals decide to skip public financing, as President Bush did en route to winning the Republican nomination in 2000. ‘It will be a huge issue,’ Dean said. ‘I think most Democrats believe in campaign finance reform.’” (Sharon Theimer, “At Least Five Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Lay Groundwork To Take Public Financing,” The Associated Press, 3/7/03)
· “Dean Committed To Accepting Taxpayer Money And Vowed To Attack Any Democrat Who Didn’t.” (Ron Fournier, “Dean Pulls Back On Spending Limits Pledge,” The Associated Press, 8/15/03)
· Read Dean’s Letter To FEC Applying For Matching Funds
In August 2003, Dean Backed Away From His Pledge On Public Financing: “Could We Change Our Mind? Sure”
In August 2003, “Dean Backed Away From His Pledge To Adhere To Spending Limits,” Saying “Could We Change Our Mind? Sure.” “Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean backed away from his pledge to adhere to spending limits, saying some advisers want to explore opting out of the Watergate-era public financing system because of his sudden fund-raising success. … ‘Could we change our mind? Sure,’ he said.” (Ron Fournier, “Dean Pulls Back On Spending Limits Pledge,” The Associated Press, 8/15/03)
· Dean: “I think public financing is a good thing. The question is what do you do with an opponent who can murder you from March to December?” (Ron Fournier, “Dean Pulls Back On Spending Limits Pledge,” The Associated Press, 8/15/03)
In November 2003, Dean Broke Pledge, Pulled Out Of Public Financing System
In November 2003, Dean “Became The First Democrat To Opt Out Of The Presidential Public Financing System In 30 Years, Striking A Severe Blow To The Watergate-Era Program.” “Howard Dean on Saturday became the first Democrat to opt out of the presidential public financing system in 30 years, striking a severe blow to the Watergate-era program. Dr. Dean, who has raised $25 million to become the best-financed Democrat in the race, will rely on private contributors to fuel his campaign in the primaries, turning away almost $19 million in taxpayer financing and avoiding the spending limit of about $45 million that comes with it.” (Glen Justice, “Dean Rejects Public Financing In Primaries,” The New York Times, 11/9/03)
· Lieberman Spokesman Craig Smith: “It’s a shame that Howard Dean has broken his word and abandoned his earlier pledge never to bypass the public financing system …” (Ronald Brownstein, “Dean Won’t Accept Public Financing,” Los Angeles Times, 11/9/03)
· John Edwards: “It sends exactly the wrong signal to voters in this country …” (Jim Drinkard and Jill Lawrence, “Dems Decry Dean Move,” USA Today, 11/10/03)
· Dick Gephardt: “You’ve got to … stay with what you believe in and think is right.” (Jim Drinkard and Jill Lawrence, “Dems Decry Dean Move,” USA Today, 11/10/03)
· Read Record Of Dean Pulling Out Of Matching Funds System, Telling FEC He “No Longer Wish[es] To Participate In The Matching Payment System Administered By The Commission” and ‘Withdraw[s] The Candidate Agreement Filed With The Commission …”
###
McCain Campaign’s Position On Withdrawing From Matching Funds System:
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has repeatedly held that candidates who enter the Presidential Primary Matching Funds System have a right to withdraw, provided they do so before the United States Treasury pays them the funds and provided they do not use the matching fund certificates they hold as collateral for a loan. The campaign has been paid no funds by the United States Treasury and never used the certificates issued by the FEC as collateral for its bank loan. Previous candidates in this situation include Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean, who entered and then withdrew from the primary funding system in the 2004 election, and Congressman Dick Gephardt, whose campaign obtained an advisory opinion from the FEC in 2003 stating they could withdraw from the system and then re-apply for re-entry. The right to withdraw from the system is a constitutional right, which prevents the FEC from blocking Senator McCain’s withdrawal without cause.
Senator McCain notified the FEC and the United States Treasury of his withdrawal from the system in a letter dated February 6th. The current dispute is simply over whether the FEC has to take any action in response to the withdrawal notice. It is clear to the campaign, as it is to a number of FEC experts, that no FEC action is necessary in response to Senator McCain’s notice of withdrawal given the constitutional nature of the right. In our view, the Senator’s letter is all that is legally required to exit from the system. FEC Chairman Mason, who does not represent the official view of the Commission due to the current lack of a quorum, has written a letter to the campaign in which he states his belief that the FEC must formally vote to accept the withdrawal. In either case the result is the same: the campaign will be out of the public funding system either because of the letter sent on February 6th, or because of a future vote by the Commission acknowledging the letter.
Nevertheless, the campaign is fully responding to Chairman Mason’s request for information and is confident that the new commissioners, when appointed and confirmed, will take whatever action they conclude is necessary to confirm Senator McCain’s withdrawal from the system as of February 6, 2008.
Tags: FEC, Howard Dean, john mccain, public financing
Share
Huckabee/McCain Debate - Come on
Why isnt this in your headlines?
McCain will not win against a democrat in the election, so why are we lifting him up? People badmouth Huckabee, but his record is far and away better than McCain’s and he’s the only republican that has a shot at beating the dems. McCain has shown himself unworthy of our support.
Let us look at McCain’s conservative credentials:
-PRO-LIFE: he filed an amicus brief against pro-life advocates in Wisconsin
-IMMIGRATION: he wrote the bill granting amnesty to illegal immigrants (co-sponsored by Ted Kennedy)
–GAY MARRIAGE: he joined liberals to fight against a federal marriage amendment supporting the institution of traditional marriage
SOCIAL SECURITY: he voted to give your social security money to illegal immigrants
-TAXES: he voted against the Bush tax cuts multiple times (he has since flip-flopped and has campaigned as a lifelong tax-cutter)
-RHETORIC: he routinely engages in Democratic class warfare against big companies in America, particularly the “evil” drug companies who research cures to debilitating diseases for a profit
-ECONOMY: as recently as December 2007 he admitted “he does not know the economy very well” and needed to get better at it
-1ST AMENDMENT: he wrote the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill that was declared to be an unconstitutional infringement of the 1st Amendment (co-sponsored by ultra-liberal Democrat Russ Feingold)
-2ND AMENDMENT: he was called the “worst 2nd amendment candidate” by the president of the NRA
-ENERGY TAX: wrote a bill (co-sponsored by his buddy Lieberman) imposing a massive tax on energy which, according to the Department of Energy, would drastically raise the price of gasoline and put 300,000 Americans out of work
-GLOBAL WARMING: supports radical global warming legislation which involved him voting with every Democrat; think only America is responsible to take action, not other superpowers
-JUDGES: he joined forces with Democrats (Gang of 14) to block the Senate Republican’s attempt to confirm conservative, strict constructionist judges; also said Alito was too conservative for his liking
-WAR ON TERROR: fought with Hillary Clinton to demand that terrorists be given a full American trial
-CHRISTIANS: campaigning in 2000, he famously described Christian leaders as “agents of intolerance”
-BI-PARTISANSHIP: he met with leading Democrats in 2004 to discuss the possibility of being John Kerry’s Vice-President; publicly considered leaving the Republican Party in 2001 after he lost the primary
-PROFESSIONAL ETHICS: ringleader of the infamous Keating 5 ethical scandal which cost US tax payers $160 billion (Google it)
-PERSONAL ETHICS: McCain cheated on his first wife after she had a severe accident that left her partially disabled. He then divorced her and married his multi-millionaire mistress, whose daddy bought McCain a spot in the Congress
I really think you’re story misses the point and misleads the reader. The hypocrisy here is not McCain vis-a-vis Dean, but McCain was critical of Obama’s change of heart regarding public funding. I now see that your older mentor’s in the FOX food chain are teaching the tricks of the trade. http://politiporn.com/2008/02/24/return-of-the-nadering-nabob/#more-91
Michelle Obama’s America — And Mine
By Michelle Malkin
February 20, 2008
Like Michelle Obama, I am a “woman of color.” Like Michelle Obama, I am a working mother of two young children. Like Michelle Obama, I am a member of the 13th generation of Americans born since the founding of our great nation.
Unlike Michelle Obama, I can’t keep track of the number of times I’ve been proud — really proud — of my country since I was born and privileged to live in it.
At a speech in Milwaukee this week on behalf of her husband’s Democratic presidential campaign, Mrs. Obama remarked, “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.”
Mrs. Obama’s statement was met with warm applause from other Barack supporters who have apparently also been devoid of pride in their country for their adult lifetimes. Or maybe it was just a Pavlovian response to the word “change.” What a sad, empty, narcissistic, ungrateful, unthinking lot.
I’m just seven years younger than Mrs. Obama. We’ve grown up and lived in the same era. And yet, her self-absorbed attitude is completely foreign to me. What planet is she living on? Since when was now the only time the American people have ever been “hungry for change”? Michelle, ma belle, Barack is not the center of the universe. Newsflash: The Obamas did not invent “change” any more than Hillary invented “leadership” or John McCain invented “straight talk.”
We were both adults when the Berlin Wall fell, Michelle. That was earth-shattering change.
We’ve lived through two decades’ worth of peaceful, if contentious election cycles under the rule of law, which have brought about “change” and upheaval, both good and bad.
We were adults through several launches of the space shuttle, in case you were snoozing. And as adults, we’ve witnessed and benefited from dizzyingly rapid advances in technology, communications, science and medicine pioneered by American entrepreneurs who yearned to change the world and succeeded. You want “change”? Go ask the patients whose lives have been improved and extended by American pharmaceutical companies that have flourished under the best economic system in the world.
If American ingenuity, a robust constitutional republic and the fall of communism don’t do it for you, hon, then how about American heroism and sacrifice?
How about every Memorial Day? Every Veterans Day? Every Independence Day? Every Medal of Honor ceremony? Has she never attended a welcome home ceremony for the troops?
For me, there’s the thrill of the Blue Angels roaring over cloudless skies. And the somber awe felt amid the hallowed waters that surround the sunken U.S.S. Arizona at the Pearl Harbor memorial.
Every naturalization ceremony I’ve attended, where hundreds of new Americans raised their hands to swear an oath of allegiance to this land of liberty, has been a moment of pride for me. So have the awesome displays of American compassion at home and around the world. When millions of Americans rallied to help victims of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia — including members of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group that sped from Hong Kong to assist survivors — my heart filled with pride. It did again when the citizens of Houston opened their arms to Hurricane Katrina victims and folks across the country rushed to their churches, and Salvation Army and Red Cross offices to volunteer.
MI VOTES COUNTING…STICK BY THE RULES
I can’t speak for Florida but in Mi our state governor & our democratic party could have reversed their decision & went back to the original primary date to prevent all of this but they choose not
to. They fully knew the ramifacations of that decision. The National Democratic Committee gave them an option to come into compliance or lose their delegates. Now they are crying over spilled milk. The DNC also said that if they have a caucus the delegates will be seated but again our state refused.
Also, there is a rumor going around in Mi is that our (last term) governor (Dem) has been promised a spot in Hillary Clinton’s cabinet when Hillary becomes president. Now of course, tonight on the news, our governor,Jennifer Grandholm, is`supporting Hillarys position on seating the MI snd Fl delegates,as is.
Is this the way it’s played. FL. & MI state democratic partys
did this to their own voters. Not the Democratic National
Committee. And the states democratic party themselves need to make it right…not the Democratic National Committee.
Hillary Clinton is not using MI to cheat & win the race. She should be disqualified for her tactics.
The Clintons have not changed. THEY ARE POWER HUNGRY, CHEATING, LIARS. THAT WILL DO ANYTHING TO WIN EXCEPT PLAY BY THE RULES!
VOTE - HILLARY CLINTON - PRESIDENT!!!!!
America’s True Presidential Leader - President!!!!
With your vote and support for Hillary Clinton in Texas and Ohio - - - - - - - - - - - -
~~~Hillary Clinton will change America and Hillary Clinton will change the World as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VOTE - “MY AMERICAN MAMA” - HILLARY CLINTON - PRESIDENT!!!!
VOTE - “MY AMERICAN MAMA” - HILLARY CLINTON - PRESIDENT!!!!
VOTE - “MY AMERICAN MAMA” - HILLARY CLINTON - PRESIDENT!!!!
VOTE - “MY AMERICAN MAMA” - HILLARY CLINTON - PRESIDENT!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOU GO GIRL!!!!!
YOU GO GIRL!!!!!
YOU GO GIRL!!!!!
YOU GO GIRL!!!!!
YOU GO GIRL!!!!!
PS - - - HILLARY, PLEASE GIVE BARACK “HUSSEIN” OBAMA…LOTS OF…… H - E - L - L !!!!!!!!
Barack “Hussein” Obama deserves lots of H - E - L - L !!!!!!!!
Me and the Deanster are gonna get in the ring and duke it out!! I’ll give him the old thumbs up to the eyes! I promise you my friend’s, he’ll be out of operation for good! I am King McCain and don’t you forget it !
The real reason the DNC is attempting this is to prevent the Republican candidate from even being able to get their message out. This is nothing more than an attempt to prevent it from being a fair election.
michelle, malken, you and i share the same country. it was so poetic the way you described the times and places i was and am proud. thank you for expressing it for me.
The Democratic Party is a joke! The Democratic Party is so divided. It is divided by sex, race, age, and financial status. I do not see how the democrats expect to win in November no matter who the democratic nominee is. Problem 1: Let’s say obama wins. Hillary’s core is the elderly, women, and Hispanics (about 30 million people). These voters not only voted for Hillary, but against obama. Are these voters going to close their eyes and run over a vote for obama? Let’s say Hillary gets the nomination. Will obama’s dreamy eyed supporters (or the ones who are just voting against Hillary) run over embrace and vote for Hillary? Highly unlikely! You say what about a joined ticket? Really people, do you think that obama or Hillary will take the submissive VP slot? Nope! As you see, the democrats again have found a way to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory! We haven’t even gotten to gay marriages and swift boats yet! Lol! About the Superdelegates switching alliances. In America, we have an idea of justice and fair play (i.e. Congressional hearing for steroid use in baseball or video gate in the NFL). The media is so blatantly biased against Hillary it isn’t funny anymore. The Superdelegates were put into place for situations where no clear winner is produced from the primaries and caucuses. There are “NO” rules commanding the Superdelegates to vote as their constituents did. Now if obama and his supporters would like to “change” the rules, I suggest seating the delegates from Florida and Michigan. obama 1.3 mil popular vote lead (as wow states in his earlier post) would be balanced by the 3 mil or so who voted in Florida and Michigan for Hillary! Or Hillary should get the Governor of Arizona’s (Janet Napolitano), among others, Superdelegates vote, because Hillary won that state? When the war in Iraq started everyone in congress (Except obama as he has said…oops he did not get a vote, he was not in congress yet) voted in favor of the war! Then during the 2006 election when people where being voted out of office, suddenly everyone is against the war. Lining up like a bunch of ducks. Superdelegates should do what they think is best for America, and the democratic party. Period! These Superdelegates should show a little backbone, and not cave to pressure of the old party politics (and we know he had party pressure). Isn’t the old party politics what obama is truly against? Guess not when it works in his favor! obama is just another male politician, who promises the people everything and gives the people nothing, when you get to the facts! It is really eye opening when facts get in the way. This is why I became a republican, who happens to be a black male.
30a15320a967…
30a15320a967ac5297aa…