NPR: FEC Wants Some Answers About McCain Loan

FEC Wants Some Answers About McCain Loan

The government's top campaign finance regulator and the campaign of Sen. John McCain are at loggerheads with each other over McCain's use of a loan to keep his campaign alive during his candidacy's dark days in the winter of 2007.

Jim Kuhnhenn reports at Townhall.com that Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason says, in a letter to McCain this week, "John McCain can't drop out of the primary election's public financing system until he answers questions about a loan he obtained to kickstart his once faltering presidential campaign."

Mason says in the letter to McCain that he needs to assure the FEC that he did not use the promise of public money to secure the $4 million line of credit he got in November.

But the McCain campaign said it was going to ignore the FEC and that it has already dropped out of the system.

This is a complicated case and it makes a lot of sense to read the above article to get fuller picture of the situation. But there are other factors complicating the issue: the FEC's current lack of a quorum - Senate Democrats and Republicans are at odds over how to fill the four vacancies on the six member commission (Peter Overby has done some great reporting on what this means to this election cycle); and McCain has long been a critic of the FEC and he and Mason (a Republican appointee) have had ideological differences over how the FEC should operate.

Peter believes that in the end, this is probably going to have to be decided in the courts (We'll have an update later with more on the situation.)

12:17 PM ET | 02-21-2008 | permalink

Comments

All credit is awful. Some one needs to shut down the federal reserve, and we need to get the U.N. to crack down and regulate or close the world bank. And reign in the corporations as well.

They have created an economy which is unsustainable, abusing our resources, and exploiting human beings for the sake of profit. We have not known so heinous a tyranny for many ages.

Unfortunately you won't hear about any of these things from the candidates (except Ron Paul) because they operate at the behest of financially powerful people.

If we do not seize the reigns of economy for the people, we will all soon be chattel.

Sent by Jody Sol | 1:12 PM ET | 02-21-2008

That is the whole point! They need to be able to own you!!! Slavery is good for business, didn't you know that??? The UN and other human rights groups are making it too hard for companies to do so illegally, so the only answer is to enslave us by legal means!

It is the true order of things that a few, should be able to rule over the masses as gods! Nations, religions, cultures, YOUR WILL and the existence of other biological organisms are all irrelevant, in the great manufacturing line of WEALTH BABY!!! Accumulate all unto one's self at the denial to all others, of the very air needed to breathe, water needed to quench thirst, or space needed to move!!!

Sent by Ozlanthos | 7:36 PM ET | 02-22-2008

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