Romney applauds Supreme Court ruling on McCain-Feingold
Romney quickly applauded a Supreme Court ruling against a provision of McCain-Feingold.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney jumped at the chance Monday to show his support for a Supreme Court ruling that struck down a key provision of a campaign finance law authored in part by fellow GOP presidential hopeful John McCain.
"Score one for free speech," Romney said in a statement. "The law trampled the basic right of the American people to participate in their democracy. It also purported to reduce the influence of money in politics, but we now know that influence is greater than ever. "
"McCain-Feingold was a poorly-crafted bill," he added. The bill, sponsored by the Arizona senator and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, was signed into law by President Bush in 2002.
In a 5-4 decision on Monday, the court's majority concluded that the specific guidelines of the McCain-Feingold bill relating to issue ads - aired mainly on television - were overly restrictive. Under McCain-Feingold, such ads can be banned 60 days before a general election, and 30 days before a primary.
The issue ads ban proved to be extremely unpopular with many conservative groups currently being courted by McCain in the GOP nomination contest.
- CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
I agree with Romney, we cannot keep thinking of new ways to stifle free speech, but many are abusing that right and are not standing accountable for falsifying facts, in order to sway people to their side. If they lie or slander, they should be held criminally and financially liable. Good candidates don't have to sink to that and I am sick to death of all the apologies after the fact, once the damage has been done. Tell it to the wind, you lying hypocrites. This is out of control! In our state, our rep has never said one bad word about anyone else running against him and he wins with 70-80% of the vote in an area that tends toward the opposite party, every single time! Read it and weep, those of you who sink to lower levels, and that includes the cheap religious shots Obama made against Evangelicals this weekend, accusing them of hijacking Christianity in the same way Islamo Fascists are accused of hijacking Muslims. Not even close, buddy, and it's a good thing they took analogies off the SAT's so people like you could pass. People like that should just stay out of politics, they do not have the values or intelligence to lead anyone, including their own selves. It's one thing to bring up issues and point out differences and another to sink to the levels some are doing. I also just read three apologies from Repub candidates whose staffers tried to bash Romney for his religion. They are still on the staff and their candidates are OFF MY LIST!! CHEAP SHOTS ARE OUT, TOO, YOU LOSERS.
"Cheap shots are out...You Losers." Welcome to the inherent hypocrisy of the republican party.
I would like to add that I think McCain took this time limit approach to allow people somse space to check facts before going to the polls, because so many ads have been deliberating misrepresenting them. Rather than contol what they can say and what they can't say, a time out for everyone was his answer. It didn't really stifle anyone's free speech, imo. I think a better answer is to hold people criminally liable if they deliberately lie or misrepresent the facts, in order to manipulate an election.
Tia
I thought your response was very thoughtful and it makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately the liberal media is all most people would have for fact-checking after the vacuum created by the ad ban and that would be out of balance too.