Subject: news of the day 2/23/04
From: Rick Hasen
Date: 2/23/2004, 6:35 AM
To: election-law

"Paper Receipts No Guarantee"

Meg Smothers offers this oped in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.


New in Roll Call

See PAC Man, which begins: "Freshman Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn.) really wants to become the next chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, he may want to brush up on the federal law that prohibits fundraising on federal property."

Watchdogs Warn of New Soft Money, which begins: "Campaign watchdogs have issued dire warnings that unless the Federal Election Commission revises its arcane allocation formulas that apply to 527 groups that conduct partisan voter drives, the agency runs the risk of opening up a massive loophole that could allow a new flood of soft money to wash into federal campaigns."

FEC: Senator Violated Finance Law, which begins: "At the prodding of a government watchdog group, the Federal Election Commission ruled last month that Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) had violated campaign finance law in 2000. But the commission took no action against the Senator."


"Leaders of the PAC: The Price of Politics; Law and lobbying shops answer the call of campaign giving en masse. It's all about branding, stupid"

Legal Times offers this report (registration required).


"Congressional Redistricting Battle Could Lead to New Rules"

The New York Times offers this report.


Brad Smith on Republicans' "Boneheaded" Strategy

See here.


Heinz Kerry's Spending Supporting Her Husband

Once again, the question whether and how John Kerry's spouse could use her fortune to assist her husband has arisen. See this Washington Post article.


George Will's Latest Column on McCain-Feingold

It is available here.


"Blanket Primary Likely on Last Legs"

According to this report, we may know today if the U.S. Supreme Court will be interested in looking at the constitutionality of Washington State's blanket primary. I think the answer is likely not.


"Schwarzenegger Backs Amending Presidential Rule"

See this New York Times report. It will be interesting to see if Democrats oppose this sensible amendment to the Constitution given the reality that Schwarzenegger seems the most likely politician to benefit from it in the foreseeable future. 
-- 
Rick Hasen
Professor of Law and William M. Rains Fellow
Loyola Law School
919 South Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA  90015-1211
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rick.hasen@lls.edu
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