FEC Allows Corporate-, Union-Funded Campaign Ads

NEW FEC RULE RECEIVES MIXED WATCHDOG REVIEW
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Susan Crabtree]
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Tuesday voted to approve a modified rule governing corporate and union-funded political ads that will be tested throughout the presidential election. As of Monday evening, election reform groups were raising fears that the new FEC rule would carve a large loophole in the restrictions governing political advertisements established by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002 and lead to an onslaught of negative attack ads on the eve of the presidential primary. After the decision, reform advocates appeared somewhat mollified. One vocal critic, the Campaign Legal Center’s Paul Ryan, said the FEC improved the rule somewhat by accepting an amendment by FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub at the last minute. But Ryan remained concerned about what the overall impact would be of the rulemaking coupled with the Supreme Court decision rendered earlier this year in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL), which caused the FEC to act. Richard Hasen, a professor at Loyola Law School, continued to predict that “corporate-funded sham issue advocacy will soon hit election 2008” on his election law blog after the vote, but he appeared to place the blame on the Supreme Court decision rather than the FEC.
http://thehill.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=69932&Itemi...

* The Federal Elections Commission voted on November 20 to approve final rules implementing the Supreme Court's ruling in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life. Read the new rule at http://www.fec.gov/pdf/nprm/electioneering_comm/2007/provisions_approved...

* FEC Allows Corporate-, Union-Funded Campaign Ads
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6504570.html?rssid=193

* FEC: New Rules Change Political Ad Landscape
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=71...