This is Just Too Hypocritical
The DNC wants the FEC to investigate a loan John McCain took out from a bank because they say it violates money in politics laws.
Here’s part of the deal. The FEC is supposed to have six commissioners, with four being a quorum. One of the commissioners was recessed appointed and his appointment expired in January.
The panel is set up to have one Republican and one Democrat rotate off and on at the same time.
Now here’s the kicker: I read earlier in the Wall Street Journal that none other than Senator Barack Obama put a hold on the nomination of said candidate and therefore Harry Reid’s man can’t go on the committee, leaving it without a quorum.
Barack Obama is promising to end partisanship in Washington, and here’s a place to start: He could stop playing politics with the Federal Election Commission in a way that could hamper John McCain’s campaign against, well, Mr. Obama.
The Illinois Senator is blocking confirmation of one of President Bush’s appointees to the FEC, which administers election laws. This has left the agency two commissioners short of the quorum it needs to make decisions — with the potential for direct harm to Mr. McCain’s campaign. As we’ve been writing, the Arizona Senator took out a controversial $1 million loan that FEC Chairman David Mason has said might lock him into the public finance system for the primary season. Mr. McCain doesn’t want to do that because he’d have to abide by spending limits that would reduce his campaigning this spring and summer. Mr. Mason says the FEC needs to rule on the matter, but without a quorum Mr. McCain is left hanging.
The FEC must also vote to certify that Mr. McCain can receive an estimated $85 million in public funds for the November election. The Republican has already pledged to accept those funds, and the spending limits that go with them, and he is counting on the money to make him competitive against a Democratic nominee. However, no FEC quorum, no public McCain funds in the fall — and a potentially big advantage for Mr. Obama, who is raising far more in private donations.
The FEC dispute centers on Hans von Spakovsky, a Bush appointee whose two-year recess term ended in December and who has been renominated. Before coming to the FEC, Mr. von Spakovsky was a lawyer in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, where he supported voter-ID laws that Democrats claim will harm black voters but have been vindicated in court. Mr. von Spakovsky’s nomination was approved by the Rules Committee in September, but then Mr. Obama intervened with a “hold.” Other Democrats have since joined him.
Mr. von Spakovsky was supposed to be voted on in a package of four FEC nominees. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid instead demanded that all four get individual votes, hoping to tank only Mr. von Spakovsky. The six FEC commissioners have staggered terms, and one Republican and one Democrat are supposed to end their terms simultaneously so there is no partisan advantage. Mr. von Spakovsky is paired with Steven Walther, a Nevada lawyer with close ties to Mr. Reid. The Majority Leader can hardly expect to get his hand-picked choice, while throwing Mr. Bush’s overboard.
Just what is it the Democrats have against voter ID laws? How hard is it to get a government ID? If one is too poor then the law should provide they get it free.
But then they couldn’t count the votes of the dead and the illegals, could they?
Hypocritical? Nah!
Written by ~J~
