Liberals Dominate Funding of 527 Groups

June 9, 2008 · Filed Under News 

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The McCain–Feingold Act, also known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, sought to address two issues: the increased role of soft money in campaign financing and the proliferation of issue ads.

As the saying goes, the road to hell was paved with good intentions.

One of the by-products of the McCain-Feingold Act was the advent of so-called “527 organizations”, which are organizations that claim tax-exemption as “political organizations” under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 527).

These groups refuse to register as “political committees” subject to campaign finance law contribution limits, source prohibitions and disclosure requirements.

So basically, it’s a workaround to run political ads, the sort McCain was trying to eradicate.

Anyhow, the liberal 527 groups raised about $146 million in 2004 for ads to attack President Bush, according to the New York Post.

Conservative 527 groups paled in comparison with about $46 million raised for the same time period.

This time around, liberal 527 groups have collected $131 million already, and conservative 527 groups have $81 million for this election cycle.

Interesting that liberals frequently cite the Swift Boat 527 ads from 2004 when liberal 527 groups accounted for more than three times the negative advertising back then.

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