[EL] Freedom Caucus to Battle McConnell on Campaign Finance

[Steve Hoersting]

I, like Rick, am surprised.

But after the 11th Commandment went out the window during the recent Senate
battle in Mississippi -- where one faction charged the other with racism,
of all things -- I take no pleasure in saying this reaction from the
Freedom Caucus was, at some level, foreseeable.

It is unfortunate that the contingent that owes such power as it now holds
to a principled deregulation of America's campaign financing system -- the
Grassroots wing of the Republican Party -- is now willing to throw that
baby out with the bathwater.

*

But there is a far larger problem bubbling in the grassroots on this issue.
Even the most cogent analysts on the grassroots side of the Republican
Party -- struggling, understandably, for answers -- are now positing that
"the donor class" is responsible for Leadership's *inexplicable* ennui in
checking the Executive and curtailing federal spending.

But the explanation is philosophy: Leadership has been wooed by Reform
Conservatives -- a faction of the Republican commentariat and think tank
community that relishes a growth in the Administrative State; both foreign
and domestic.

Think about it? Are we really to blame potential campaign spending by the
US Chamber for the Corker-Cardin bill, which ceded the Senate's Treaty
check to the Executive on a pressing matter of foreign policy?

I have seen no less than NRO's Andrew McCarthy posit that Corker-Cardin can
be explained by Boeing's interest in providing aircraft to Iran.

But this is akin to blaming (aircraft manufacturer) BMW for for deciding to
get Germany into World War II -- and crediting (aircraft manufacturer)
Grumman with the decision to have America end it.

*

The Freedom Caucus's beef is with Irving Kristol's Reform Conservatism --
not with James Madison's First Amendment. And the sooner the Freedom Caucus
learns that, the sooner they'll increase the chances of preserving their
existence.

I, for one, hope they do.

*

And don't get me started on *polarization.*

Steve

Sent from my Phone.


On Dec 2, 2015 10:57 AM, "Rick Hasen" <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:

> I'm surprised because of the ideological valence of the issue. That is, I
> expect members of the "Freedom Caucus" to support full deregulation of the
> campaign finance process.
>
> (I'm also skeptical of some of the arguments about polarization and
> campaign finance you make in your book, but that is an issue for another
> time.)
>
>
> On 12/2/15 7:54 AM, Ray La Raja wrote:
>
> Rick, regarding the news that they Freedom Caucus is opposed to
> McConnell’s bid to loosen party financing, why are you surprised (as you
> note at your blog)?   Channeling more money through the parties should
> diminish the clout of partisan factions at the extremes because it
> strengthens the hand of party leadership.  This is exactly the point Brian
> Schaffner and I make in our recent book, "Campaign Finance and Political
> Polarization: When Purists Prevail”
> https://www.press.umich.edu/4882255/campaign_finance_and_political_polarization
>
> Ray La Raja, Associate Professor
> Department of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
> http://polsci.umass.edu/profiles/la-raja_ray/home
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> Rick Hasen
> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
> UC Irvine School of Law
> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
> Irvine, CA 92697-8000949.824.3072 - office949.824.0495 - faxrhasen at law.uci.eduhttp://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/http://electionlawblog.org
>
>
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