The Good Liberal. The Bad Ruling

Nat Hentoff writes about the Supreme Court's decision to let the McCain-Feingold Speech Rationing Law stand:

As Justice Anthony Kennedy, dissenting, wrote, by way of example, "[The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act] makes it a felony for an environmental group to broadcast an ad, within sixty days of an election, exhorting the public to protest a Congressman's impending vote to permit logging in national forests."

However, just as it was before this act was declared constitutional by one of the most mediocre Supreme Courts in our history, super-rich individuals, on their own, can spend any amount, at any time, from their personal funds, to advertise opposition to, or support of, any candidate in a national election—provided they do not contribute those funds directly to a political party or candidate.

Accordingly, George Soros—who is increasingly politically active and is determined to send George W. Bush back to Texas next year—now has more First Amendment rights, thanks to this McCain-Feingold "reform" law, than those of us who contribute to the ACLU or the National Rifle Association during those weeks and months when our voices count. These extra First Amendment rights can also be exercised by Bill Gates or another abundantly achieving capitalist.

Soros, moreover, is additionally enjoying his First Amendment right to take advantage of the recently organized 527 groups, named after the rules in Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code. These groups are less regulated than the advocacy groups for the nonrich, which are instructed by the new "reform" law as to when they can and cannot advertise on radio and TV.

Yet another of life's rich ironies - the Democrats, putative spokespeople for "the little guy", just disenfranchised that little guy a little more.

Posted by Mitch at January 20, 2004 05:55 AM