Colbert Super PAC
Sean Parnell supports Colbert Super PAC's plan to buy an elephant, and Sheila Krumholz believes hidden money taints politics.
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Showing posts with label Stephen Colbert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stephen Colbert. Show all posts
Colbert Super PAC -- Sean Parnell and Center for Responsive Politics talk to Stephen
Super-PACs and Dark Money: A Guide
ProPublica:
"The chief umpire in this game—the Federal Election Commission—is still struggling to write the rules for the hodgepodge of strange-sounding groups feeding the system. 527s? Super-PACs? Even Super-Duper PACs? ProPublica decided a guide is in order."
Colbert Super PAC - Trevor Potter Preps Stephen for His FEC Hearing
Comedy Central:
"Colbert Super PAC - Trevor Potter Preps Stephen for His FEC HearingVideo here.
Trevor Potter prepares Stephen for his FEC Super PAC hearing, which will not require him to fight in the sarlacc pit in sudden-death overtime. (03:51)"
FEC Urged to Deny Stephen Colbert’s FEC Request by CLC and Democracy 21
Stephen ColbertCLC President and Colbert personal lawyer Trevor Potter rescued himself from this issue, of course.
campaignlegalcenter.org:
"The Campaign Legal Center[1], together with Democracy 21, today urged the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to deny a request by comedian Stephen Colbert to significantly expand the so-called “press-exemption” to a number of federal election laws. The two organizations filed comments with the FEC in response to an advisory opinion request by Mr. Colbert seeking the FEC’s opinion as to whether the Viacom corporation, which owns, produces and distributes his television show, The Colbert Report, may pay for a variety of expenses of his Colbert Super PAC without disclosing any of the expenses as in-kind contributions to the PAC under the “press exemption.”"And here is a Wall Street Journal editorial on the possible *serious* unintended consequences of Colbert's gag:
Campaign-finance laws are so complicated that few can navigate them successfully and speak during elections—which is what the First Amendment is supposed to protect. As the Supreme Court noted in Citizens United, federal laws have created "71 distinct entities" that "are subject to different rules for 33 different types of political speech." The FEC has adopted 568 pages of regulations and thousands of pages of explanations and opinions on what the laws mean. "Legalese" doesn't begin to describe this mess.
How's that for a punch line? Rich and successful television personality needs powerful corporate lawyers to convince the FEC to allow him to continue making fun of the Supreme Court. Hilarious.
Of course, there's nothing new about the argument Mr. Colbert's lawyers are making to the FEC. Media companies' exemption from campaign-finance laws has existed for decades. That was part of the Supreme Court's point in Citizens United: Media corporations are allowed to spend lots of money on campaign speech, so why not other corporations?
Whether Mr. Colbert understands that he has made the Supreme Court's point is anyone's guess. But there's nothing funny about what he has had to go through to set up a PAC, because real people who want to speak out during elections face these confounding laws all the time. And as his attempt at humor ironically demonstrates, the laws remain byzantine and often impossible to navigate, even after Citizens United.
Related articles
Stephen Colbert launches ColbertPAC
Image via WikipediaThe Washington Post: "Stephen Colbert, host of the eponymous Colbert Report has announced his own PAC, complete with over-the-top announcement video. Is he serious? Probably not. Is he funny? Absolutely.
Colbert used the feature-film-preview quality videos released by former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty as his spring-board , mocking (in typical Colbert fashion) the dramatic score and fast video cuts. He then proceeds to introduce his own “introductory video” telling viewers, “I want to warn you in advance, if you’re epileptic, there are going to be a lot of quick cuts and flashing lights. and if you’re not epileptic, you will be after this.”"
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