The Coming Crackdown on Political Blogging. "In just a few months... bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate's press release to a mailing list...could be punished by fines." CNet's engrossing interview with an FEC commissioner who predicts major turmoil ahead as the government tries to decide if a blog link is a donation. A Brookings paper (pdf) suggest "Radical changes in modes of communication and forms of political campaigning lie not too distant on the horizon." This guy says it's all an attempt to undermine campaign finance laws by freaking out bloggers.
posted by CunningLinguist on Mar 3, 2005 - 20 comments

President Bush signed the campaign finance reform bill today. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky immediately filed a lawsuit to stop the bill. Campaign finance reform is one of the most widely popular bills with over 75% of voters supporting it. Why are some legislators so desperate to stop it? Maybe it's because television broadcasters don't want to lose the money paid to air political commercials.
posted by patrickje on Mar 27, 2002 - 22 comments

In light of the passage of campaign finance reform, let’s see what political patronage looked like a 130 years ago.
posted by raaka on Mar 20, 2002 - 2 comments

Is this a real chance at campaign finance reform or are we just in for more partisan back and forth that in the end won't change much of anything? (NY Times link) And how long will the "Enron effect" last?
posted by willrich on Jan 25, 2002 - 6 comments