Via LGF, this article on George Soros' advocacy of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act (which, more fool me, I once believed to be a good thing), only to become the biggest exploiter of its "527" loophole.
Over the last seven years, Soros gave about $18 million to groups dedicated to changing campaign law to remove high-dollar contributions from the political process. His grants included $625,000 to Common Cause, $2.5 million to the Brennan Center for Justice, $1.2 million to Public Campaign, $125,000 to Democracy 21, $1.7 million to the Center for Public Integrity, $75,000 to the Center for Responsive Politics and $665,000 to the Alliance for Better Campaigns.And when McCain-Feingold passed, Soros' Open Society Institute patted itself on the back. Mark Schmitt, director of the Institute's Governance and Public Policy program, praised the provision that eliminates the "soft money" loophole "through which long-prohibited corporate and labor union money, in unlimited and staggering amounts, came to directly influence the outcomes of federal elections."
But Soros apparently has no qualms about using his own $7 billion fortune to make donations in unlimited and staggering amounts to defeat President Bush and the GOP this fall.
In just a few short months in 2003, Soros pledged $5 million to America Coming Together, $4.5 million to the Joint Victory Campaign and $2.5 million to the MoveOn.org Voter Fund.
These groups are classified as "527" committees, after the tax code section that governs their activities. A 527 group can accept unlimited contributions for spending on political ads, voter-mobilization drives and other advocacy efforts as long as it doesn't directly coordinate with a political party or candidate. Concerned about a Bush-Cheney fundraising advantage, liberal activists created the 527s to run anti-Bush ads and mobilize voters.
By 2004, Soros had donated money to other new 527s — such as Harold Ickes' Media Fund. Calling the president a "danger to the world" who must be defeated, Soros to date has given an estimated $12.6 million to the liberal 527 network.
So much for campaign-finance reform.
Charles Lewis of the Center for Public Integrity says Soros' contributions are legal but violate the reform spirit: "I have a hard time seeing what the difference is between a soft-money donor to a party and a big 527 donor, especially when both give million-dollar checks."
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