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SEIFFE:  The 527 Killers

Saturday, April 8, 2006

By Ralf Seiffe

With this week’s passage of the so-called “527 Reform Act,” the Republican Congressional Delegation once again reveals its hostility toward the Bill of Rights.  Every single Illinois Republican joined all but 18 House GOP members to shank our First Amendment right to assemble and to spend our money to support--or oppose--candidates for federal office.  

This vote is the natural fallout from the McCain-Feingold Free Speech Repeal Act of 2002.  You will remember that Congress thought it could insulate itself from the public by passing campaign finance reform mid-way through the president’s first term.  This craven piece of legislation was so questionable that many of us believed the Supreme Court would torpedo it but, by a 5-4 vote, the Supremes joined McCain’s conspiracy.  

As The Federalist warns us, legislators are never omniscient and infrequently wise.  McCain and Feingold’s trashing of the First Amendment provides a modern-day example of what that warning means in the form of “527” organizations.  Referring to that section of the IRS code (another sterling example of what professional politicians can render), the very money that McCain’s law tried to contain became the most potent force in the very next election.  

That’s because McCain-Feingold had the unintended consequence of creating initiatives like “MoveOn.Org” and the Swift Boat Vets which came to exert lots of pain during the 2004 campaign.  This spontaneous outbreak of political passion apparently represents too much risk for Capitol Hill Republicans, even though they appear to be the primary beneficiaries.  So, by voting for this bill, they impose more control on speech and eliminate potential embarrassment in the future.  

Is this unabashed incumbent protection legislation the final proof that professional politicians no longer give a damn about voters?  Gerrymandering accomplished with pinpoint-accurate databases have reduced competitive congressional districts to as few as 15 seats.  When there’s a clear opportunity to turn a seat over, our leaders seem incapable of engaging even someone as ill-suited as the Third District’s inherited Congressman, Lipinski Junior.  Have they made a deal with the Democrats to keep their hands off that seat in exchange for no battle somewhere else?  

This 527 vote is another in a long list of expedient triumphs at the expense of what used to be called Republican principles.  For my money, the earmarks, the failure to articulate a vision for Social Security Reform, the insertion of federal power into local schools, the looming tax hikes if tax cuts aren’t made permanent expose systematic failure of congressional leadership.  

But these shortcomings pale when compared to tampering with the Bill of Rights. And for what?  Washington pundits tell us the vote came to maintain the Republican’s current funding advantage of some $40 million.  If so, what this vote really shows is just how cheaply politicians will sell our second most important birthright.

© 2006 Ralf Seiffe

Ralf Seiffe advises business start-ups and product launches from Chicago, Illinois and is a political analyst and columnist for the Illinois Leader and Illinois Review.