Clever.

The audacity to say *anything* about Obama's own statements vis a' vis public funding, after he pulled this stunt; well, the guy has cojones, that's for sure.

No one in the traditional media will pick up on this because it doesn't fit the established narrative. If St. McMaverick did it, it must be OK.

Unbelievable, and too unbelievably complicated for most people to understand.

aimai

I'd like to take exception to a small aspect of this post, which is that what McCain did is "complicated." This is not complicated, though it may be unprecedented. I'm sure there's not a snowball's chance in hell of the media covering this, but don't let them off the hook for its being complicated. To me it reads like a standard loan covenant written to secure a prospective revenue stream to a lender.

The media doesn't have to pick it up, We can still run ads, and there is no 'we don't do controversial ads' clauses to federal law. Networks HAVE to accept ads by the presidential campaigns.

I get what you're saying, but the larger truth is that until all candidates are limited to public funding or until there are real political ramifications with voters for raking it in, no real campaign finance reform is possible.

It is, thus far, a failed effort. I'm not convinced anyone can portray McCain as *particularly* evil in this regard, and it seems to me he's taken it on the chin a few times for his efforts.

I just want to say that this is an incredibly well-written post that explains the legal gymnastics in a nutshell.

Hopefully this accurate telling of what is going on will make the rounds.

Like many things, it is not super complicated, but very difficult to explain to those who don't already have a strong grasp of the subject matter. In any event, this is truly a great piece of journalism, that is, an effort to inform people of what is going on. Kudos to Schmitt and TAPPED.

Great post, excellent writing and explanation. Jaw-dropping, IMHO. Hope this gets picked up.

It's a fact that the media says things "are complicated" when they don't want to talk about them.

There are simple enough ways to present even the most complex things.

How about "John McCain promised to get public financing to payback a campaign loan if he couldn't raise it in donations" ?

Simple enough?

On further thought -- incredible that a lender could have required him to stay in an election. Seems to me that this completely suborns the political process. I could see a scenario where McCain was forced to stay in the race to repay the loan, essentially collecting votes on a fraudulent basis (not to mention damaging the party or a candidate he favored were he not able to win — say if Huckabee and Romney were closely matched -- not an unlikely scenario under other circumstances). Seems highly unethical if not unlawful.

Has eveeryone forgotten about "The Keating Five"? Why were they called "The Keating Five"?

Complicated? This isn't any more complicated than things that reporters generally report on. Heck, it's a LOT less complicated than the primary process.

How's about "To get a loan from a bank, McCain promised the bank he'd collude with them to force the American taxpayer to pay the loan back if he couldn't."

Or "it appears he went into the campaign finance system with every intention of violating the spirit, if not the letter, of the law."

Can I get a loan based on my willingness to vote for a particular bill, a position which will undoubtedly get me 100s of thousands of dollars in corporate contributions from the effected industry?

Headline: "McCain Has Cake And Eats It, Too"

Byline: "How to use restricted taxpayer funds to raise unrestricted campaign donations"

Seems pretty straightforward to me.

er, Subhead, not byline. You get the idea, anyway.

Obama is CORRUPT, his slogan of change an ILLUSION.

1) A houseowner wants to sell both a house and adjoining land. Obama can afford to buy only the house. No problem, the criminal Rezko to the rescue. Rezko pays full price for the land, whereas Obama gets a discount of $300,000 on the house. Nice to have criminal friends like this!!! (reference ABC News)

2) Exelon Corporation had not disclosed radioactive leaks at one of its nuclear plants in Illinois. Obama, a senator for Illinois introduces a bill to make disclosures mandatory. Seems like Exelon doesn't like it. Each draft of the new bill by Obama goes more and more towards Exelon till disclosures end up being "voluntary". What gives? How about $250,000+ donations by Exelon to Obama's campaigns!!! Obama is not change, he is WASHINGTON BUSINESS AS USUAL. (reference New York Times)

People need to stop believing their fantasies about Obama and realize that Hillary is the one who has been fighting for them all along. All the way back to 1993 when she tried to introduce universal health care (before it became politically fashionable).

Shouldn't surprise anyone, really. McC has a gift for being, as the upper stratum likes to put it, "good about" money. The most important discovery of his life was that it's as easy to love a rich woman as a poor one.

MattD:
The audacity to say *anything* about Obama's own statements vis a' vis public funding, after he pulled this stunt; well, the guy has cojones, that's for sure.

I imagine that's why we haven't heard anything out of the McCain camp on this subject since the story broke.

Almost kinda like welfare fraud, isn't it?

McCain essentially traded away for cash his right to choose whether to participate in the system, and even his right to drop out of the presidential race, allowing the bank to force McCain "to remain an active candidate" in order to reapply for and qualify for funds.

Just a minor quibble: it wasn't the Bank (i.e., the lender) that would force McCain to stay in the race. It was the McCain Campaign Committee (i.e., the borrower) that would force him to stay in. The Bank held no sway over him; the Campaign Committee, on the other hand, would have been in breach of contract if it had not been successful in convincing McCain to stay in the race.

How would this provision be enforced? Is their a sanction specified?

This is the same thing the conservatives have done to big business:

Socialize the risk, privatize the profits.

Only in this case, the profit was election victory.

Explain to me how this isn't exactly what McCain just did?

It looks like the Schmuck Talk Express learned a few creative financing tips at the hand of Charles Keating.

Anonymous No. 1: Perhaps McCain isn't especially "evil," but the Schmuck Talk Express is HUGELY hypocritical.

Oh, speaking of that, notice how little he's talked about global warming recently?

Headline:
McCain's Free Lunch

No MacCain supporter here, but

What I'm not getting in the dust up is this: had public matching funds been available in a timely fashion than there would have been no need for the loan. Right?

So, yes, he gamed the system. But only to collect the money sooner than the FEC could/would release it. Is this right?

Charles, No.

What I'm not getting in the dust up is this: had public matching funds been available in a timely fashion than there would have been no need for the loan. Right?
**************
As I understand it the point was to get the money without committing himself to public funding restrictions unless he'd already lost.

So, yes, he gamed the system. But only to collect the money sooner than the FEC could/would release it. Is this right?
****************
I don't think that "only" holds up, but even if it did would it be better for him to have sold his honor at such a bargain rate?

Anyone gotten Feingold to comment on this?

What really sucks about this is that it looks an awful lot like bribery but it probably technically isn't. You give me a million bucks to stay in the race and advocate your position. Suppose he made this arrangement with a campaign contributor--in writing? The bank that agreed to this has bought and paid for this guy. Does anyone think that if the president of the lender called in a favor that the call wouldn't be returned? (Of course, there's no quid pro quo except for the promise to run, but not to take any official act. That's why i'd guess it's probably legal.).

Whatever his campaign paid by the hour, it was worth it. Hats off.

The problem with your analysis is that you assume he would intend to drop out after losing the next primary by more than 10 pts. As he had no intention of doing so, your logic collapses like a house of cards. Nice try, though. I'll look forward to your next manufactured conspiracy regarding our next president.

Actually, "Truth", whether he would intend to drop out or not is irrelevant. So long as he didn't win or come within 10% of winning the next primary or caucus, McCain would have to apply for the federal money.

The issue here is whether or not McCain was essentially taking the federal money (or the benefit of having the federal money) without actually subjecting himself to the spending limits required by law. That is clearly the case simply from reading the language in the loan agreement.

allsburg, you're definitely correct that the campaign committee would have to enforce the provision about McCain staying in the race. I wonder why the bank would agree to what is a terrible provision for them (the campaign committee would not have been a particularly useful deep pocket if things unraveled). I wonder if there is a side letter between McCain and the committee requiring his commitment to stay in if such circumstances arose.

"Is this illegal? Who knows. Note that it took several days of discussion among top lawyers and former FEC commissioners...."

Well, clearly you do not know what it means.

As for "top lawyers and FEC commissioners," the commission is supposed to have 6 members. Currently it has only two, including Chairman Mason. As such, it cannot seat a quorum. It can do no official business. This letter is a joke.

Wsn't McCain still "in" when the loan was renegotiated?

The loan was renegotiated on Dec 18, 2007. McCain sent the "I'm rescinding my public funds certificate" letter to the FEC on February 7, 2008. The updated loan agreement was sent to the FEC on January 31, 2008, a month and half after the modification was entered into.

-- What we know is that McCain found a way to use the public funds as an insurance policy --

The possession of the public funding certificate was put to use in obtaining ballot access in Ohio. Without looking at the law, but making inferences from news reports, ballot access is conditioned on either obtaining a certain number of qualified signatures on petitions, or on having an FEC certificate.

McCain is a hypocrite. He has lost my vote. The same old politics with the same old man is not going to cut it. I wonder which between Castro and McCain is going to join Karl Marx?

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