What Could Go Wrong?

Joe Nocera of the Times covers the latest progressive fantasy on campaign finance reform. The gist - the Senator who brought us Sarbanes-Oxley is back with a plan to level the campaign playing field by empowering small donors:

For decades, the answer for those in the campaign finance reform movement had always been to try to limit the amount of money any one person could contribute. Although individual contribution limits per candidate are still on the books, that general approach is clearly not viable in the age of the Roberts court.

So Sarbanes and other reformers began to come at the problem from the opposite direction: magnifying the role of the small donor, rather than trying to diminish the role of the large donor. In February, Sarbanes sponsored a bill that tries to do just that, at least for congressional races.

It has three main components. First is a $50 tax credit per donor per election cycle. Second is a voluntary matching fund system. People who donate up to $150 to a candidate who has agreed to lower contribution limits and the full disclosure of all donations will have that donation matched 6 to 1 with federal funds. If the candidate agrees to take no contributions higher than $150, the match rises to 9 to 1. And finally, it allows candidates to raise additional matching funds in the last 60 days of the election if the candidate feels he needs it to ward off a last-minute advertising blitz. (The bill has disincentives to keep that additional money from being used unless it is really needed.)

“There is a general consensus that the way to go is a multiple matching system,” said Fred Wertheimer, the head of Democracy 21 and one of the grand old men of campaign finance reform. For one thing, it engages small donors in the political process — and gives them an incentive because their money is being maximized. But Sarbanes also likes it for another reason: It forces members of Congress and would-be members of Congress to actively solicit the money — and thus the views — of their constituents.

Eventually Mr. Noccera informs us that this bill has 149 Democratic co-sponsors but only a lone Evil Stupid Republican. I wonder why?

As a starter, the text of the bill includes this puzzle:

Sec. 504. Qualified small dollar contributions described

...

(2) 

The contribution is made by an individual, either directly or through an intermediary or conduit (as described in section 315(a)(8)), who is not otherwise prohibited from making a contribution under this Act.

I am not a campaign finance lawyer (further evidence of a merciful G*d) and there are lots of bills with a Section 315, but the relevant links seems to lead us to this:

(8) For purposes of the limitations imposed by this section, all contributions made by a person, either directly or indirectly, on behalf of a particular candidate, including contributions which are in any way earmarked or otherwise directed through an intermediary or conduit to such candidate, shall be treated as contributions from such person to such candidate. The intermediary or conduit shall report the original source and the intended recipient of such contribution to the Commission and to the intended recipient.

My gloomy Republican reading is that any PAC relying on small donors, with special emphasis on union PACs, can, with a bit of accounting effort, qualify a huge portion of their donations as eligible for a 6 times Federal match. So a union with 1000 members can raise $150,000 directly from its members and their favored candidate will get another $900,000 from the Treasury. Small wonder Dems like it.

That said, there is a bit of a 'careful what you wish for' wrinkle here for progressives to ponder - in the twilight struggle between the wealthy Mr. Bloomberg and the numerous NRA, who benefits from this bill, hmm?

But enough about what's legal! Although we live in a country with no discernible voter fraud (or at least, none discernible to progs) it seems likely that some candidate somewere will engage in some quid-pro-quo fundraising. Supporters will be encouraged to write a check/present a credit card for $150 and get $150 cash back. Or $200 - why not, the campaign can afford it out of the 6-1 matching funds.

The text of the law has some stiff enforcement in Sec. 512 - people have to promise not to do that. Hey, that might work. Or not.

Sec. 512. Qualifying requirements

...

(b) Requirements relating to receipt of qualified small dollar contribution

Each qualified small dollar contribution—

(1) may be made by means of a personal check, money order, debit card, credit card, electronic payment account, or any other method deemed appropriate by the Commission;

(2) shall be accompanied by a signed statement (or, in the case of a contribution made online or through other electronic means, an electronic equivalent) containing—

(A) the contributor’s name and the contributor's address in the State in which the primary residence of the contributor is located, and

(B) an oath declaring that the contributor—

(i) understands that the purpose of the contribution is to show support for the candidate so that the candidate may qualify for financing under this title,

(ii) is making the contribution in his or her own name and from his or her own funds,

(iii) has made the contribution willingly, and

(iv) has not received any thing of value in return for the contribution; 

This seems like a good moment to deplore the racism and insensitivity of the bill's sponsors. In defiance of common sense and public opinion the Democratic Party is united around the idea that certain ethnic groups are incapable of organizing their life to the point of getting a Voter ID card. Yet now small donors must have a bank account or credit/debit card? What's up with that? When did money stop talking, and what happened to Annuit Coeptis?

I assume that will be fixed later.

Comments

[Danube on iPad]

I think Arnie and Kate are seated in the third photo.

Happy birthday, TC and glasater.

Off to read Pieces.

[rich@gmu]

...a happy prebirthday to glasater and Tom Collins.

glasater you are my favorite, but don't tell anyone (love the photos you post and glad that your personal circumstances with that MF Global scandal seems to have worked themselves out. sorry that happened to you.)

wow TC a pre-birthday and graduation. congratulations to your son and family.

[rich@gmu]

great pieces this morning Clarice.

[narciso]

Notably, only some commenter on Twitter,John Carney linked her Times piece, whereas Tepid linked this typical blancmange

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2014/05/18/grading-obamas-foreign-policy/

[clarice]

Thanks.

[Dave (in MA)]

Barbara Anderson Re: our putative Mini Me replacement on FB:

Pop quiz: What did Martha Coakley guess is the current Massachusetts gas tax?
Answer: on the Sunday Morning Ch. 5 OTR pop quiz, she was asked the question and guessed 10 cents.. No wonder she told the North Shore Chamber this past week that she supports an increase in the gas tax. The correct answer is 24 cents per gallon. The Tank the Gas Tax initiative petition is meant to stop that from increasing automatically each year without a legislative vote.

[Jim Eagle]

Dave,

Better buy a bike.

[Rick B]

It's just a flesh wound.

It's sure a good thing Deutsche Bank has such limited exposure in the Ukraine BK. The bank wil snap right back as soon as the small matter of Austrian counterparty risk is clarified and everything will be rainbows and unicorns forever when Mad Vlad regains his senses and returns Donetsk, even if it's at the point of a hashtag.

Thank goodness there's such a minimal risk of contagion.

[narciso]

This contrasts the idiot hashtag

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/05/guns-save-lives-armed-nigerian-villagers-defeat-boko-haram-over-200-terrorists-killed/

[Threadkiller]

Say Rick, that's not the same Deutsche Bank that is still being investigated for scamming Libor, is it?

I wonder if Geithner mentioned his involvement in his new book.

[jimmyk on iPhone]

Gretchen seems to have forgotten her own book, in which she showed the real crooks were at Fannie and Freddie, and in Congress. I guess for the NYT crowd she has to flog Wall Street.

Great Pieces, Clarice.

[peter]

great pieces, Clarice, happy birthday glasater and TC.

[jimmyk on iPhone]

"I think Arnie and Kate are seated in the third photo."

And Arnie is sitting on a phone book? Either that or Kate's legs at a LOT longer than Arnie's.

I gather from DoT's and CH's comment that Arnie's Army was really ladies surrendering faster than the French?

[narciso]

Well she focused on regulatory capture, his failure to adequate take precautions against said crisis, just a little 'speaking truth to power' which is nearly too much for Carlos Slim,

[matt]

All the best, glasater y TC. A double round of goodness to you both!

It amazes me that not one Democratic politician or news outlet of any persuasion has investigated Obama's funding in the past two elections. $750,000,000 in each and a trail of breadcrumbs that leads to M.K. Maus and J. Stalin and A. Hitler and no one has questioned perhaps the most massive campaign finance fraud in history.

As Clarice points out the corporations and the rich are simply buying legislation and influence to benefit themselves in cahoots with a statist political elite. Keep the money flowing and no one gets hurt except for Joe Lunchbucket. The whole thing is crooked beyond belief.

I was reading an article in the Proceedings of the USNI this morning and there was an interesting article on the next generation aircraft carriers. I also realized that we are so dependent upon our enemies that even our most advanced systems can be crippled by a knowledgeable adversary such as on, China.

All of the super technology in the world is no good if the enemy can sabotage it at the component level. And as Chuck Hagel and the JCS focus like laser beams on including transgenders in the military, I know that we are in the best of hands.

[narciso]

Well, someone has to say it,

http://therightscoop.com/cheney-obama-is-weak-and-has-demonstrated-repeatedly-he-can-pushed-around-by-putin/

[Threadkiller]

Are we a day early for the Birthday wishes, or not?

I extend all the best to Glasater and TC no matter the day!!

[glasater]

Narciso-

The Andrew Ross Sorkin interview/article of Geithner in the NYTs sure was a door stop.

[Jeff Dobbs]

TK:
Are we a day early for the Birthday wishes, or not?

Today is a day early.

But today we can celebrate the Senate passage of amnesty in 1983.

Yay.

It's also Bertrand Russell, John Paul II, Warren Rudman, Tina Fey and George Strait's birthday.

[jimmyk on iPad]

"The Andrew Ross Sorkin interview/article of Geithner in the NYTs sure was a door stop."

The cover photo could be a Halloween prank.

[GMax]

The Swiss vote Nein to abject stupidity, DD hardest hit:

Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a proposal to introduce the world's highest minimum wage, which would have guaranteed every worker in one of the world's priciest nations at least $25 an hour.

A proposal to introduce a minimum wage so high it could pass for mid-management pay elsewhere, was rejected by 76,3 percent of Swiss voters.

A series of referendums in Switzerland also saw voters nix a multi-billion-dollar deal to buy fighter jets from Sweden and massively support a lifelong ban on convicted paedophiles working with children.

The massive rejection of the "Decent Salary" initiative was widely seen as a slap in the face to its union backers, who insist at least 22 Swiss francs ($25, 18 euros) an hour, or 4,000 francs ($4,515, 3,280 euros) a month, is needed to get by in Switzerland.

[narciso]

I should be clear 'Too big to Fail' was a door stop, the interview was a senseless murder of
trees.

[Danube on iPad]

Bombshell from our excitable friends at Canada Free Press:

"Based on my extensive 18-month investigation, it is my professional conclusion that the Internet video known as Innocence of Muslims, the video allegedly responsible for Middle East violence and more importantly, the September 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi that resulted in the death of four Americans can be directly tied to a covert intelligence operation and operational assets of the U.S. Department of Justice."

[Miss Marple]

Well, isn't that interesting, Danube?

Who knows? Ourgovernment is now filled with so many crooks, grifters, scam artists, and generally evil people that you could probably tell me anything and I would believe it.

This is NOT good, as it leaves me prey to all sorts of conspiracy theorists, which I am not. It's just indicative of how they have lost any trust from me at all.

[rich@gmu]

DoT-

do tell. isn't everything an "intelligence operation"?

what is everyone up to this fine day? i'm getting my car worked on. yeah.

[DrJ]

DoT, I've always wondered in the video came from or was disseminated by the administration. How on earth would anyone know about it otherwise?

[Jim Eagle]

BENGHAAAAAAAAZZZZZZI, dude!

[rich@gmu]

lol ... Miss Marple was faster on that.

in re; Clarice's great pieces ... how would the plaintiff's go about getting the prosecutors and state agency sanctioned. Would that be done through the federal courts? Also would it be illegal for that Wisconsin agency to be colluding with say unions and whatnot?

anyway great write up Clarice-only saw a brief article about it and surprised it hasn't been a bigger national story.

[DrJ]

rich, since you asked :) this morning we harvested the first batch of this year's blueberry crop. Blueberry pancakes! Also, we picked a half dozen oranges; the one we sampled was superb. A dozen or so tomato plants went into the ground, and the drip lines repaired (which they always seem to need). The rest of the veggies will go in over the next week or so.

Otherwise, I've updated hardware and software on six computers. Only a few more to go!

I lead an exciting life, yes? :)

[rich@gmu]

DrJ-

the maker as an agent of influence for the MB. is it a stretch to believe he is lying he is a Christian?

iirc it was shown in a small, student movie maker theater in LA and the movie poster (the only one known to exist) had caught the eye of a Jewish group.

kinda odd all the way around.

[Jim Eagle]

Damn it Rich, you just gave the regime a way out: blame the jooooos.

[rich@gmu]

more exciting than mine. the blueberry pancakes sound delicious.

note on the above:

1. lying he is a Christian is sop for islam and a local case in leesberg, not far from here, featured it.

2. the budget for the movie-50k or so and sold to the crew as a development project. those funds were allegedly from Egypt. the script was pretty generic and it was the movie maker who over dubbed the scene that was shown on Egyptian state tv.

3. the cartoon jihad.

4. the odd preacher man in Gainesville FL who manager to gain worldwide prominence.

[rich@gmu]

JIB-

not my intention. can't remember where I saw that about a jewish group seeing the poster, but plenty of sites "blamed the jews" for the whole thing anyway.

[Marlene]

rich,since you asked...I'm working on the last minute details for the party we are hosting for the daughter and son-in-law. Next Sunday we are hosting a family and friends party in NH to celebrate their March 9 marriage. We are looking forward to a great time! The party is being held at an Irish pub,what could go wrong? : )

[rich@gmu]

link for DoT's article ...

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/63152

[narciso]

I think 'Blue Oyster Cult' had a tune, along these lines 'don't fear the moose'

http://pjmedia.com/eddriscoll/2014/05/17/of-moose-and-timesmen/

it really is immaterial, Nakoula's contribution,
'the Reefer Madness' of antiIslamic films, the fatwa went from Zawahiri to his brother, Mohammed, as retaliation for the death of Abu
Yahya Al Libi,

[rich@gmu]

hahahahaha ... the reefer madness of Islamic films. that's a classic.

marlene-

hope the party is great and the alcohol flows freely!

[narciso]

It was around the 6th of September, that the DNC issued that platform plank that affirmed the state of Israel, that received strong negative reinforcement, from the delegates,
the next day was the 'AQ is dead, GM is alive,
preroration,

Occam's razor would point to the fact, that the perpetrators had been retained by at least one intelligence service, to recruit
rebels, in the previous Libyan conflict and
the ongoing Syrian one,

[narciso]

Speaking of musical numbers;

http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2014/05/17/cant-stop-the-music/#more-36741

one could also use Plan 9 from Outer Space, but as a cautionary tale, the former works better.

[rich@gmu]

with you on that narciso.

and i do remember daddy's play-by-play of the Dem convention at the time.

oddly this whole thing sort of occupies a bit too much of my memory because I remember where I was (an uncomfortable, sealed off corner) and what I was doing (a loud machine running in my ears for about 12 hours a day, for about 12 straight days).

[henry]

Rich,

1. The DAs are being sued in Federal Court, monetary damages alleged in the suit ($2 million for WI Club for Growth alone).

2. It is illegal for the GAB and DAs to work together, lawsuits pending on that.

3. It finally is warm enough that I dusted off my mower and rendered much CO2 to sky dragon while maintaining my monoculture acreage, plus a beer after.

4. User conference starts this evening, I must clean up & behave myself for the next several days.

[narciso]

well what do you, he is a worthy successor to Gosnell's girl friday, and a counterpart to
'Red Squaw'

http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/05/mayor-julian-castro-of-san-antonio-had-less-responsibility-than-mayor-sarah-palin-of-wasilla/#comments

[Beasts of England]

Happy Birthday glasater and Thomas Collins!

[Beasts of England]

Rejected HRC campaign slogans:

I Fell For Hillary!

Hillary! Will Knock Herself Out For America

Find Her In The Scratch & Dent Bin

[Jim Eagle]

Has any "real" person ever run for high office like POTUS and VPOTUS?

Even Reagan was an actor and communicator. Bush from a political family.

Palin was probably the first but these creeps like Castro and Hillary and Warren are worrthless caricatures of experience and accomplishments.

I can think off the cuff a dozen or so more accomplished people who are leaders and successfull but just don't have the political and PR vibe.

We are so screwed. DOOM

[Miss Marple]

JiB,

I think that we are devolving into 2 countries: the politically connected, along with entertainment and media, and the rest of us.

Maybe 3 if you want to separate out the non-working welfare types.

I used to be really interested in every facet of politics, but I sort have lost my taste for most of it. I follow it now just to see the early signs of trouble brewing.

[Jane]

Dot,

Andy McCarthy has long said that the video was drummed up by Hillary et al to make an excuse for the Cairo demonstrations which were anticipated in advance, and were a direct result of Obama's overthrow of Mubarek and elevation of the Muslim Brotherhood. So when State et al knew that was going to happen, they found the video so they would have something to blame it on. When Benghazi unexpectedly happened they just extended the playing field.

[matt]

Spent an hour talking to an oil & gas engineer who is a member of the parish. He is so lit up against Obama and his cronies that I was a bit taken aback.

The next battleground is going to be interesting. A NG field in Utah on Native American and private lands that is bigger than Saudi or Bakken.

What will the Enviro-Nazis do? Piss off the native Americans, the unions, and the American working class.

[Jim Eagle]

The Steve Kroft Iran Apology and Tourism Board Booseter Tour is to appear soon on CBS 60 Minutes after the golf tournament. This is the segmennt where Steve Kroft gives high fives to the Islamic Republic as a kind of misunderstood Disneyland. The New York media disease is something akin to MERS. If you get it, its contagious and will kill your brain cells.

[clarice]

rich, henry answered your question. I'll only add that the plaintiffs can file an ethics complaint with the Wisconsin bar association which can lead to the loss of the prosecutors' licenses to practice. In effect, Judge Randa said they had no justifiable reason at law to do what they did.

As for the Canadian Free Press article it sounds absurd, but so does almost everything else out of DC these days..(excepting me of course).

[Miss Marple]

JiB,

I cannot get my dog to come in and I need to leave for mass. A conundrum. I dare not leave her out because of the evil dog-hater who lives down the street.

I have no idea why she is being so stubborn.

Sigh.

[Danube on iPad]

You sound wonderful every week, Clarice.

[Beasts of England]

So we have a president with the middle name of an Iraqi tyrant and now the left is floating a possible veep contender with the last name of a communist thug? Coolio...

[clarice]

Thanks, DoT!

As for the Canadian Free Press article, two Lucianne readers point out some questionable stuff (BTw I find that publication uniformly suspect and over the top.)'

Apparently some Lucianne readers also do..here are some comments you might find of interest:Reply 18 - Posted by: MDConservative, 5/18/2014 4:13:53 PM (No. 9853520)
Leiutenant Quarles Harris Jr. is not a military figure...that´s his actual name, misspelling and all. This guy´s criminal lifestyle suggests he was going to eventually meet this fate.

Reply 20 - Posted by: Susannah, 5/18/2014 4:59:22 PM (No. 9853538)
If you´d like to read the criminal complaint against Quarles--whose first name, by the way, is actually Lieutenant--here it is:
c.plainsite.org/dcd/130321/1.pdf

He was busted for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and they found the 19 credit cards on him, some of which had been used for fraudulent activity. He said he had a friend in the state department (described in the complaint as a co-conspirator) who provided him with personal data to apply for the credit cards. They had a third co-conspirator at the post office who intercepted the cards before they could be delivered to the persons in whose name they had been issued.

It was a credit card fraud scheme involving Quarles and two other people, and the "deal" Quarles was trying to work was the usual cop-a-plea business.

Great 18-month investigation, Doug. It took me five minutes to find the complaint.
a few seconds ago · Like

[Miss Marple]

Clarice,

Thank you very much. Now I can quit worrying about that article.

[clarice]

You're welcome, MM.You can join me in automatically discounting everything in that publication.

[Miss Marple]

Thanks for the information, Clarice.

I need to know what to not waste my time on.

This is so aggravating. There is enough bad stuff going on we don't need made-up BS.

[clarice]

Exactly,MM. I once spent weeks explaining to people why some legal theory floated there was total cockamamie.After that I don't waste my time.

[Extraneus]

For daddy:

Video: White House solves VA problem. “No question” this was a termination

DENIS MCDONOUGH: Well, Secretary Shinseki accepted Dr. Petzel’s resignation this afternoon. He was due to retire early next month and obviously there has been a nomination made for his replacement. I leave to Rick the explanation of his decision, but there is no question that this is a termination of his job there before he was planning to go.

MAJOR GARRETT, CBS NEWS: So the President is unhappy?

DM: I think… you heard what Secretary Shinseki said yesterday, which was that he’s mad as hell. And the President is madder than hell. And I’ve got the scars to prove it, given the briefings that I’ve given the President, the conversations that he and Rick and I have had on these matters. So is one step, as important as it is, like this one sufficient? We’ll continue to look at that. But at the same time that we’re looking at accountability we want to be able to continue to perform and provide our veterans the services that they have earned.

Dr. Pretzel resigned!

Wait.

Dr. Pretzel was terminated!

Sorry.

Dr. Pretzel retired!

Btw, who's Dr. Pretzel?

[Extraneus]

Gen. Keith Alexander, the former head of the spy agency, warned in an interview with The New Yorker of a ‘growing’ number of potential attacks on the U.S.

A former top U.S. security official fears the nation could be attacked again by terrorists. Gen. Keith Alexander, who retired in March as director of the National Security Agency after eight years on the job, said the probability of another terrorist attack on U.S. soil is increasing. “The number of attacks that are coming, the probability, it’s growing,” Alexander said in a New Yorker magazine interview published over the weekend. “What I saw at N.S.A. is that there is a lot more coming our way.”

Er, how can 100% probability be increasing?

[Extraneus]

Italian women appeal to Pope Francis to end priests' celibacy vow

Group of 26 Italian women who state they are in loving relationships with priests call on Pope Francis to end ban on priests having sex

Best Catholic news I've read in a long time.

(I'm Catholic, so fire away at will.)

[Extraneus]

Once I realized I was talking to myself here, I reposted into the next thread.

[Porchlight]

Happy birthday TC and glasater! Such a great extended family we have at JOM.

[Danube on iPad]

"I find that publication uniformly suspect and over the top"

Humorously loony.

[Ann]

Happy Birthday, TC and glasater.

glasater, I love what you wrote about our group.

OT:
I have had a beautiful red cardinal peck on all the windows in front of my house since Friday. He wont stop. Any ideas why birds do this? I have had a Robin do it but not for days like this one. Thanks

[rich@gmu]

Posted by: Ann | May 18, 2014 at 08:35 PM-

their reflection in the glass. not sure. when this happened at my mom's house, i put some bird cut outs on the inside of the window and it stopped.

[clarice]

Must be catching, Ann. My audiologist is having the same thing happen at her office windows.

[Ann]

Thanks, It so sad. I have done everything to scare him away.

[Man Tran on iPhone]

Ann,

When we first had our place over by the zoo, we had Cardinals in the big Hawthorne outside our bedroom window all the time. One male started the window blitz and promptly was dubbed Kamekazi Cardinal (KC for short). We played every game to dissuade him mostly to no avail. One day he was gone and only later discovered he had flown into the garage and died in the upper storage area, even though we had two dogs and two cats that were in there all the time. Often wondered whether the attacking was some kind of an illness like dementia. It was like a natural process (territoriality) the became all consuming.

[Ann]

Thanks, Man Tran!

I finally got on to JOM and sadly the cardinal is still here. I am about to get my Halloween (live looking black crows and owls) birds out of the basement and put them up in the windows.

Will let you guys know.