Campaign watchdog groups ask FEC to investigate Perry over ads
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Campaign watchdog groups are asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry’s campaign committee, web site (RickPerry.org) and pro-Perry Super PAC “Make Us Great Again” for possible violations of campaign finance law.
The Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 filed the complaint Thursday, arguing Make Us Great Again produced video of Perry and delivered it to the candidate’s campaign for free, when it should have been classified as an “in-kind” contribution for an amount they estimate at more than $2,500 – a figure that surpasses the candidate contribution limit and violates the rule against Super PAC contributions to candidates.
“Super PACs are out there raising unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations and labor unions based on the already suspect legal theory that they can’t corrupt candidates because they don’t make contributions to them,” said CLC attorney Paul S. Ryan in a statement. “This type of video sharing makes a mockery of the contribution limits and the notion that Super PACs are independent of candidates. The FEC must investigate and crack down on Perry and Make Us Great Again if the Super PAC gave this video footage to the campaign.”
The Super PAC is led by Mike Toomey, Perry’s former chief of staff and Texas lobbyist, an association that has drawn criticism of its own, as FEC guidelines state Super PACs are barred from coordinating with a candidate’s campaign. Additionally, Toomey shares ownership of an island off the coast of New Hampshire with Perry’s top campaign strategist, Dave Carney. The ambitious Super PAC aims to spend $55 million on getting Perry into the White House.
“The use by the Perry presidential campaign of the same video footage contained in an ad run by the Super PAC supporting Governor Perry raises serious concerns about whether the Super PAC is really independent from the Perry campaign, as required by law,” added Wertheimer. “This matter requires an FEC investigation to determine if the campaign finance laws have been violated.”
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, I don’t cndisoer Perry a reliable conservative who would stick to his guns. I think he’s far too political an animal for that.
I don’t think you have Colbert right here at all. Not everything he does is in Bizzaro World. Colbert is denleitfiy not asking (or asking ) us to root against his PAC. Colbert seems to have two models. The first, as you note, is the setting himself up as a faux conservative with over-the-top conservative positions that we can love to have. But there’s a second shtick which involves him simply outright mocking absurd positions that are held by others in the world.Recall that this PAC business has its roots in his run for the presidency in 2008 (which was sponsored by Doritos). This year he’s setting up a PAC, like all the other pundits who are thinking about running or thinking about thinking about running, presumably to raise money in support of his campaign for 2012. By doing this, he’s straight up mocking both the conservative pundits that have these PACs, are being cagey about whether they will run or not, and are leveraging their talking-head positions at Fox News and other places for free advertising in advance of their announcements, and he’s outright mocking the exact sort of anti-free-speech attitudes prevalent on the left that you point out. Colbert clearly wants us to support the formation of his PAC so that he can continue to mock politicians through his upcoming real/faux presidential campaign.
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