FEC: McCain Campaign Loan Was Legal
The Federal Election Commission has now ruled in favor of John McCain, finding that he did not violate the law when he opted out of the public-finance system during the primaries.
At issue is the fact that McCain obtained a $3 million bank loan in 2007, when his campaign was in serious trouble, which would have potentially been paid back using federal funds had he failed to win the primaries. He instead went on to win the Republican nomination, raised money the old-fashioned way, and never actually collected federal cash until the general election.
The Democratic National Committee filed a complaint over the deal. But the FEC decided that McCain "permissibly withdrew from the matching payment program and thus was released from his obligations," and that there was no reason to believe a violation occurred.
Josh
Elana
Matt
Eric
Well, this is horsesh*t. We need campaign finance reform in a big way and get rid of lobbyists as well. Let's have our elected representatives doing the people's work as opposed to constantly trolling for cash.
March 2, 2009 9:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank God for the FEC! Now they can also be in charge of trains running on time, rains and car washes.
March 2, 2009 9:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
The used the public funds as collateral to get the loan - thus he used the money.
March 2, 2009 9:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCain practically had the federal government cosign the loan.
March 2, 2009 11:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Practically"? I thought they did co-sign.
March 2, 2009 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
In this case, I have no problem with the timing of their ruling!
March 2, 2009 9:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's great news for John McCain!
March 2, 2009 9:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
lol
March 2, 2009 9:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just curious - who is on the FEC now, as it made this ruling?
Last year there was some partisan maneuvering around filling some vacancies, leaving the FEC potentially powerless to act on anything going on during the 2008 election. As I remember it, Hans von Spakovsky (!) had been nominated to fill one of the vacancies, and the Bush administration refused to withdraw his nomination and insisted that all vacancies be voted on as a group.
While I remember that TPM covered that issue, I don't remember what the resolution was (and I can't get the archive search to work here, grrrr). I'm pretty sure consideration of this McCain loan issue was part of the stakes in whether or not the FEC would be functioning body or tied up in a nomination battle.
So Eric, a little more background here might be enlightening.
March 2, 2009 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, background, but also, how did the vote go and what were the dissenting opinions if any?
There was a time when the FEC deadlocked at 3-3 on partisan lines, preventing it from doing anything.
March 2, 2009 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is political bullshit and needs to be removed from the DC stables. It smelled then and still smells now, maybe one of those genuis's up there on the hill can insert a provision in one of the upcoming bills to eliminate this clear gaming of the system for political advantage (win, lose or draw).
March 2, 2009 12:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I suppose they realize that every candidate is going to do this from now on? Why not?
March 2, 2009 12:29 PM | Reply | Permalink