DEAN on campaign finance -- anyone know the outcome of this?

[Mairead]

http://www.vpirg.org/campaigns/financeReform/deangutcfr.html

Governor Howard Dean has proposed to permanently gut Vermont's campaign finance reform law eliminating our landmark public financing option for governor and lieutenant governor. VPIRG opposes removing any money from the Fund because it sets a dangerous precedent for undermining democracy in Vermont and limits the legislature's options to strengthen the law in the future.

It looks old (referring to him as 'Governor Dean'), so presumably whatever happened, happened. How did it work out? Anyone know?

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mairead]

3. Rather than responding to this blatant personal attack

I alerted on it. Unfortunately, it's still here 4 hours later, so I alerted again.

When someone is slimed for asking a question about a V-PIRG article, there's something wrong. Or is V-PIRG 'repug-nant' now too?

[blm]

8. Unlike Dean's push-polling, eh?

No, as long as the Dean campaign is the only ones doing it, push-polling is fine, eh?

For those of you who don't know, push-polling is the act of conducting a poll that reinforces negative perceptions of your opponent. Bush used it in SC against McCain. It's a GOP thug tactic.

[tedoll78]

9. Wrong-o!

Democrat 'thugs' also use push polling. Unfair, but it works.

[Mairead]

2. I answered my own question, partly

Governor Dean's Plan to Remove Funding

Early on in the 2002 legislative session, Democratic Governor Howard Dean targeted the public financing provision of the law for elimination. VPIRG led the effort to preserve funding for public financing of qualifying candidates. The Governor claimed that the law was not working and therefore should not be funded until a final court decision has been reached. Working with Republicans, Progressives and Democrats, VPIRG was able to keep public financing alive (although hundreds of thousands of dollars were taken for other unrelated uses).

http://www.vpirg.org/campaigns/financeReform/cfr_page111.html


So apparently he tried to de-fund the whole 1.3M, but he (or someone else, it's not clear) only managed to take some fraction of the money ('hundreds of thousands' sounds significant. Anyone know more details? There's a mention further down that the legislature grabbed 'another' $450K -- so apparently that's not the 'hundreds of thousands' here).

(edit: clarified the clarification of my new question)

[acerbic]

4. Yes, quite a few know and have told the WHOLE story here too already

...but no doubt the "questions" will be repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated... which means more points for Dean in category "whose supporters lie and slander other Democrats less".

"These claims are all true, but Farrell leaves out critical details. Dean, who is a strong supporter of publicly financed campaigns, used the money from the public-financing fund to help balance Vermont's budget only after a federal court judge ruled that the spending limits provision in the campaign finance law was unconstitutional, meaning that the fund would sit untouched."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=108&topic_id=15485&mesg_id=15485

[liberalnurse]

5. Thank you for the update link....

I don't search archives very well yet.

[Mairead]

6. That doesn't seem to square with what V-PIRG is saying

Soon after the law's passage, the Republican Party, among others, challenged several key provisions on constitutional grounds. VPIRG joined in the legal defense of the law in federal court. The US District Court found that while the spending caps and the very low limits on party donations were unconstitutional, the rest of the law was constitutional. In fact, the court practically invited the Legislature to fix one of these problems by creating somewhat higher limits on party contributions. The appeals process concerning the parts of the law that were struck down is ongoing.

Governor Dean's Plan to Remove Funding

Early on in the 2002 legislative session, Democratic Governor Howard Dean targeted the public financing provision of the law for elimination. VPIRG led the effort to preserve funding for public financing of qualifying candidates. The Governor claimed that the law was not working and therefore should not be funded until a final court decision has been reached.

Can you clarify?

[liberalnurse]

7. Well, I guess you will have to just make a choice.

It's old, dead news.....Try and find something current to bash the leading democratic candidate. I live in Ohio and the more DK folks who bash Dean the more I tell other Ohioian's what rude and crude radicals are backing him. It reflects upon his base and reputation. It just does not serve up well.

I've always defended DK but I'm not sure I want to be in the same company anymore.

[indigo32]

13. I'm beginning to agree with you on this

It doesn't look good.

[acerbic]

10. Indeed it doesn't

...but it squares with what was reported as news:

"U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions supported Vermont's limit on individual campaign contributions in his ruling Thursday, but declared unconstitutional provisions imposing limits on campaign spending and out-of-state contributions."
http://www2.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/08/11/campaignfinancing.ap/
http://www.google.com/search?q=Vermont+campaign+finance+law+unconstitutional&btnG=Google+Search

I see you provide only claims from Dean-haters. What to believe, that's a tough one... NOT. :-)

[Mairead]

11. V-PIRG hates Dean????

[dsc]

14. I have no idea

but they are a lobbying group who wants money spent on it. They provide no links whatsoever to back up what they say. Dean supporters have. It seems to me maybe you should email that group and ask them to back up what they said. That seems preferable to blaming Dean supporters for pointing out that they indeed have offered no proof.

[Mairead]

15. Well, the PIRGs are older than dirt, non-partisan, and highly respected

The idea that they would 'hate' someone (and thus, by implication, lie about them) is too big a stretch for me. I had hoped that your compatriot would have sobered up and admit he 'misspoke', but I guess that's not in the DDF game plan this year.

[Mairead]

12. I repeat: V-PIRG hates Dean?

[Upfront]

16. Wake up People

Dean is the next president if you want a democrat. Think before you fire.