FEC won't regulate political blogging
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FEC won't regulate political blogging
Wait til the Bush crime family hears about this news. The sh!t will hit the fan. And Bill O'Liely will have a stroke.
WASHINGTON - DailyKos, an influential political Web site that serves as a virtual bulletin board for liberals, qualifies as a media entity exempt from federal campaign finance regulations, the Federal Election Commission said Tuesday.
The FEC said the Web site, operated by blogger Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, cannot be regulated as a political committee and can freely post blog entries that support candidates.
Conservative blogger John C.A. Bambenek had argued in a complaint last month that the site should comply with campaign finance laws because such entries amounted to "a gift of free advertising and candidate media services."
The FEC disagreed.
"While the complaint asserts that DailyKos advocates for the election of Democrats for federal office, the commission has repeatedly stated that an entity that would otherwise qualify for the media exemption does not lose its eligibility because it features news or commentary lacking objectivity or expressly advocates in its editorial the election or defeat of a federal candidate," the FEC said.
The commission also rejected a complaint by Rep. Mary Bono, R-Calif., alleging that her 2006 Democratic opponent, David Roth, coordinated efforts with a blogger to advocate her defeat in the November 2006 general election. Bono won.
The FEC said the blogger, Michael L. Grace, acted in the capacity of a volunteer and his blogging efforts did not constitute an "in-kind service" subject to financial disclosure rules
Link
WASHINGTON - DailyKos, an influential political Web site that serves as a virtual bulletin board for liberals, qualifies as a media entity exempt from federal campaign finance regulations, the Federal Election Commission said Tuesday.
The FEC said the Web site, operated by blogger Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, cannot be regulated as a political committee and can freely post blog entries that support candidates.
Conservative blogger John C.A. Bambenek had argued in a complaint last month that the site should comply with campaign finance laws because such entries amounted to "a gift of free advertising and candidate media services."
The FEC disagreed.
"While the complaint asserts that DailyKos advocates for the election of Democrats for federal office, the commission has repeatedly stated that an entity that would otherwise qualify for the media exemption does not lose its eligibility because it features news or commentary lacking objectivity or expressly advocates in its editorial the election or defeat of a federal candidate," the FEC said.
The commission also rejected a complaint by Rep. Mary Bono, R-Calif., alleging that her 2006 Democratic opponent, David Roth, coordinated efforts with a blogger to advocate her defeat in the November 2006 general election. Bono won.
The FEC said the blogger, Michael L. Grace, acted in the capacity of a volunteer and his blogging efforts did not constitute an "in-kind service" subject to financial disclosure rules
Link
Last edited by spaceprophet on 09-06-2007 04:49 AM, edited 1 time in total.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man. - Jack Handey
That's good news for bloggers! It's a door that swings both ways, so both sides would be wise to leave it alone.
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests." ~ Patrick Henry
- spaceprophet
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RTIF wrote: I don't think anyone is going to have a stroke
Bill O'Reilly has been frothing at the mouth now for quite some time trying to get the government to use it's vast powers of fascism to censor and/or shut down the Daily Kos as a terrorist organization.
Bill O'Reilly smears Daily Kos.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man. - Jack Handey
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