McCain-controlled GOP committees delay finance reports

John McCain, author of much of the federal campaign finance law that requires disclosure of donors, apparently is not insisting on timely transparency by some committees he's raising money through.

Like Democratic rival Barack Obama, McCain files monthly campaign finance reports detailing the sums he's raised for his presidential run, as the law requires. His latest report says he collected $27 million in July.

But McCain is legally raising millions more in separate accounts overseen by the Republican National Committee and Republican state parties. In July, he probably raised $5.6 million in those accounts, as the Washington Post noted.

So-called joint-fund-raising committees are permitted to file either monthly or quarterly -- and the Republicans have opted to file quarterly. The next report covering receipts from July, August and September fund-raising won’t be released publicly until Oct. 15, less than three weeks before the Nov. 4 election.

An RNC spokesman said the requirement of monthly reports had become burdensome, given the large sums raised. The Republican National Committee filed a monthly report showing it raised $25.8 million in July.

Obama and the Democratic Party have similar joint fund-raising accounts and say they plan to file disclosure reports monthly.

Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera took the opportunity to swipe at McCain: "His consistent pattern of carving loopholes out of the campaign finance reforms he once championed is yet another reason the John McCain who ran in 2000 wouldn't even consider voting for the John McCain who now promises more of the same failed leadership."

McCain’s spokesman did not respond to a question about the longer periods between filings.

-- Dan Morain

Comments

[Chas]

And yet, they described the report filings as perfectly legal... So while he may champion reforms, why is there any issue over performing legal quarterly filings? Why does it seem that the Obama campaign has a direct link to posting this information here? Again, nothing illegal so it sounds like folks trying to make a mountain out of a speck of sand.

Who is NOT focusing on the issues now? I thought the Obama folks were all about focusing on real issues facing the American people, not technical details of issues that have nothing to do with what 99.99% of most Americans are looking for you to focus on.

Nothing to see here, move along....

[HB]

It's not what you say, it's what you do.

It works every time...

[Greg]

Hey Dan, Matt Taibbi called. He wants his story back.

[Joel]

The old corrupt Republican politics

John McCain is confused, showing signs of dementia and is mindlessly spouting lies from his sleazy, dishonest campaign. Another four years of Bush would totally destroy our country and this is what the American people would get with McCain. For the sake of our country, we must make sure that Barack Obama is elected President.

[Hilary Smith]

McCain is of the ruling-class and he will protect ruling-class interests, not the interests of the everyman. McCain cannot be trusted. If you’re a working-class person who cares about keeping a roof over his head, you’d better do yourself a favor and vote for Obama.

[stickem]

I'm sorry, but this is ludicrous! Just another showing that this two-party system is broken. Haven't looked it up yet but I'll bet throughout the whole campain both dems and repubs have raised so much money for thier candidates that it will make your head swim. I can think of many better ways to spend that money besides advertisements. Let's take it all except say $25 million (that's all they need to run ads) and put it toward the deficit that BOTH parties helped create. OR, let's put it toward education or feeding our own hungry. How about we cal;l it a down payment for our health care problems.

These candidates waste far too much money, yet the public is willing to vote them in time after time.

"Whenever our affairs go obviously wrong, the good sense of the people will interpose and set them to rights." --Thomas Jefferson to David Humphreys, 1789. ME 7:322

[McCainForPresident]

Wow - It must be a slow news day when you have to comment on how John McCain's campaign is actually complying with the policy for filing financial reports.

[ds]

couldnt have said it better myself:
"same failed leadership"

Its funny how the repubs are making this analogy about "drinking the kool-aid", when they are willing to follow these crooks off the cliff like a bunch of lemmings.
The difference between most Dems and Republicans is that if John Mccain were the better candidate, we would vote for him, but hes not. hes more of the same failed leadership...

[Kim]

How is this a "loophole"? It's an actual provision in the law that they can file quarterly if they wish. Nothing wrong here. Just a fishing expedition from an opponent who's slipping in the polls.

[jcm267]

What do you people who are complaining about some anti-McCain bias at this blog think about the following story?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/08/obama-ayers.html

And I'm voting for McCain, BTW.

[kevin]

The headline makes it sound so sinister then when you actually read the story it says Mccain is abiding by the laws. Just shows how the leftists media will stop at nothing to see their man of choice elected.

[Rev. Dr]

"If you’re a working-class person who cares about keeping a roof over his head, you’d better do yourself a favor and vote for Obama."

You lose. Every Ostrich is a Tsar.

[Barcain McBama]

So much for reform. Nice work, Maverick.

Of course Obama has given to pandering to the middle class by promising more freebies with no pain. "The rich will pay for it all! " Really? They will coverall ALL those new social programs you're proposing?

Darn it. I thought that we were finally going to elect a progressive, fiscally-conservative candidate to carry us into the future. Both of them let me down.

Is Nader still around?

[hesingswithfrogs]

In an election climate where so much money is coming into the system, quarterly reporting is ridiculous. Monthly reporting allows us to catch nefarious dealings with enough time to do something about it prior to the election. The Repug's quarterly system allows them to delay discovery of any "discrepancies" until just before (or even after) the election, too late to make a difference. They're playing "hide the ball" and choosing a course of action that allows them a greater chance of getting away with nefarious activity. I am so tired of these people!

[John]

Chas @8:52 wrote: "And yet, they described the report filings as perfectly legal... So while he may champion reforms, why is there any issue over performing legal quarterly filings?"

Because as the report pointed out, while it's *legal*, it goes directly against the kinds of reforms that McCain tried to institute in the past. So in the past: quarterly filings and funding-through-national-committes-and-state-parties were bad and non-transparent, when *he*'s the presidential contender and such tactics help him and his party directly, all of a sudden they're fine. Yes, it's not illegal...but it shows a huge compromise/turnaround in his principles on campaign reform--which, before the '08 run, is the topic he was most known for.

[Chuck]

It's nice that McCain has (How Many?) houses
Then, when he takes office we will all have a place to stay as they foreclose on our One Home.

[carson grey]

This is typical of the Republican establishment.
They will tell you whatever you want to hear,
and then they will do whatever they want to do.

The new order of politics for the Republican party is propaganda. They are as manipulative as the Nazi party and honestly they are just as smart.
Welcome to the GOP: GRAND OLE PROPAGANDA

Oh, and Chas - this IS an issue. If you think this is not an issue, then the smoke and mirrors that got us into Iraq are probably ok with you too. So it's people like YOU that are responsible for the death of thousands of American soldiers because you let them get away again and again with the little deceptions that kept popping up but I bet at every memo, and expository report you said "there's nothing to see here".

So you let everyone run amok and you still sit here supporting a candidate who wants more wars, owns more homes than he can count and will make sure that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

That's exactly where things got so bad in this country - we LET the politicians get away with everything. We stopped paying attention, everyone knows that during the Bush Administration we certainly stopped asking questions and if you turn a blind eye, you'll lose everything.

[ds]

Kim:
yes, its supposed to be filed quarterly, thats the story, they arent filing this quarter, but waiting until the next quarter, when election is almost over.

McCain is a cheating CROOK, you guys are sheep. BAAAAAAAAA

[ecp]

So, let's see. McCain is suppose to tell the Party how to report. That's ridiculous. If the GOP wants report quarterly and it is not against the law, what's the problem?

Obama and his boys must be running a little scared if they have to use this as an issue.

Now, if I am correct, Obama and his boys are the same ones who said they would not abide by the public financing limits for the campaign--they wanted to get all the money they could from the private sector.

Boy, the liberals just love to use money issues as a way to make it look like they are the party of the poor!!!!

[stickem]

Just learned that throughout the entire campaign, BO has raised over $400 million and Li'l Johnny $171 million. Added to the other 22 reported candidates that threw their hats in the ring, they have raised a total of over $1.5 billion dollars. That's a lot of cash to waste on advertisements. Again I say, the way we allow our political machine to waste on elections only gives them carte blanc when they get into the White House.

The system panders to big spending. If everyone is so tired of "politics as usual" then why do you vote for the same two parties election in and election out. You want real change???? Vote something other that the fatcat two-party system. The ONLY power we have as citizens is at the polls. You talk about not wanting to "waste your vote?" If you vote for a candidate you're not really happy with, you just vote him because you like the other less, then THAT, my friends, is a wasted vote.

Help change our crooked, money mongering government. Vote ANYTHING but dem or repub. Be a smart citizen and do a bit of homework researching the many other candidates. You might be surprised at what you find.

[Harry Duncan]

Many tears ago, the German public lost their country to a mad man & his cronies and them whipped them into fever pitch waving the flag saying they would prevail thru superior strength------they dumped their liberal and moderate judges and politico's and any constitutional laws they had that forbid their super right wing bunch to give themselves the right to do any thing to any body any time time they chose, including attacking other countries at will. The German industrialists made out just fine----cheap labor---slave labor--------A lot of good-ole- boys on wall street have made out beyond their wildest dreams on the backs of the middle class!!!!! SOUND FAMILIAR to our fine rightwing end our Republican Party--------WAVE THE FLAG AND ##rew the people!!!

[zorg]

well if it ain't illegal it cain't be wrong, right?

oh, wait, the spirit of the law is transparency and this maneuver hides the donors until a couple of weeks before the election. i guess you CAIN do wrong and stay within the law.

i love the excuse that it's cumbersome because the amounts of money are so large! Yeah, right!

[RichUSA]

ds

The Oct. 15 filing is 3 weeks before the election and covers
July, August and September. They CAN'T file this quarter
because It"s Not Over Yet!

In your fervor to malign Sen. McCain you threw logic out the window.

BTW, Look at Soros and Rezko and their hand prints all over B.O. when you reference real cheating crooks.

McCain will win, no question.

[James]

McCain wrote the campaign finance law and purposefully gave himself a loophole so he could use his wife's jet for his campaign touring.

[Anyi]

Serves the dems right. Witch hunting instead of strategising.Political success is the "badder" you are. Less than four months to Nov. 4, dems need to go to work to stop simply to respond to the GOP games.

[acarponzo]

Politicians...Politicians!

Mix them with money and you do not know what will happen. Oh, that's right, they will spend it! The real-time poll over at http://www.bop-o-rama.com has McCain still below 200,000 while Obama is welll on his way to 450,000. With the kind of money these guys are raising, they should be able to retire the federal debt.

[ds]

RichUSA, you may be right, McCain may win the election. But if that happens it will do nothing but prove to me that this country is over half full of uneducated morons.
Therefore I will move to Canada where I belong, in a country full of intelligent, decent people.

[Cal]

It is hard to take anything McCain says about campaign finances seriously when he refuses to release his wife's financial data. The Obama's have been completely open about their finances and both of their tax returns have been released publicly.

The real question is what is McCain hiding?

[marcus]

I think Mr McCain should let me live in one of his "non-homes" since he cant even keep track of them.

Must be nice! I hope someday I can be middle class and make 5 million.

[SonOfHistoryProf]

Some dude at the top of this says "nothing's illegal, so move along".

MEMO TO DENIALISTS:
If McCain *Champions* reform and then uses loopholes to circumvent the process he *cheapens* himself and his brand image.

*thats' what people have stopped to see*

I live in AZ. In 1989, McCain was taking vacations with criminals - Charles Keating got 5 years for fraud - and accepting campaign contributions from him. Later the Senate ethics committe declared he showed "poor judgement" in accepting $14,000 worth of vacations from a campaign contriubtor.

Then he turns things around...and starts McCain-Feingold. Great.

Then he circumvents it. Then he accepts money from Ralph Reed, a man who clearly profited from the misdeeds of Jack Abramoff. *AND HE NEVER CALLED RALPH REED TO TESTIFY BEFORE HIS COMMITTEE*

Dude...I'm questioning your judgement right about now. In your time in office, did you learn only to look angelic while being ethically challenged?

[stickem]

And, you have to realize, these figures are only the ones they have to report. There are many ways to disguise money, especially in politics. That's one of my main reasons for wanting to stop putting the rich into office. Who says that our prez has to be dem or repub, has to be rich, has to be a politician. We had some awfully good presidents that were not politicians; just common folks with good ideas.

[S.A.]

Obama is the one whose confused and out of touch with voters. Why should anyone trust this man. He's showing signs that if he becomes president, he would lead a corrupt administration with the likes of Bill Ayers, pastor Wright, Pfleger and convicted criminal Rezko. Obama whines about John McCain's late finance reports, but the SCHOOL SEALS RECORDS ON BARACK OBAMA'S SERVICE WITH TERRORIST BILL AYERS. Why isn't Obama complaining about this? I trust McCain but I will never trust Obama.