MoveOn's move struck me as neither a formality nor particularly a play for positive press, but a very effective appeal for smaller contributions.

This is one person that is thankful that the people's candidates are coming back to the common people instead of the corporations and the elite.

this is policical posturing, thier many ways to get around this, this is feel good propaganda for the masses,he got a ton of money, he can be generious, with his progressive views if it fits him,...the question is what big money is backing him, who are the fat cats backing him, somebody put a lot of bucks up, a lot of bucks, dont be nieve

this is policical posturing, thier many ways to get around this, this is feel good propaganda for the masses,he got a ton of money, he can be generious, with his progressive views if it fits him,...the question is what big money is backing him, who are the fat cats backing him, somebody put a lot of bucks up, a lot of bucks, dont be nieve

Andy:

What kind of chicken are you?

OMG - That's funny. Boycott MJ because they take ad money from American Spirit? Ha, ha, ha... Andy (andylevinsky@hotmail.com) is a total fool. Ha, ha, ha...

Andy you are nothing but a SPAMMER.

You know all that could be talked about by REPUBLICAN Senator Lindsey Graham on "Meet the Press" this morning was that Barack Obama had agreed to take public money. Obama didn't take any money from the Federal Corporation Commission, FCC, as the FCC handles private monies; whereas, John McCain had no choice but to take the FCC's offering of public money as the McCain Campaign was broke and needed the money. McCain can not blame Obama for what McCain did, as the McCain Campaign used the public money offered by the FCC as a survival tactic. Back then everyone thought McCain had bit the dust politically, as far as his campaign was concerned. Obama has never had that problem.

REPUBLICAN Senator Lindsey Graham was trying to confuse the issue of public and private monies, account McCain took the FCC's offering of public money. But this is a dynamic world, and Obama had choices and did not choose the FCC's offering of public money, but chose the money of the public -- offerings directly from the people. Apparently McCain is confused as to who the public really is.

But Obama chose a different public money than McCain; Obama chose money directly from the public, me and you -- the real public money -- giving him small donations. The public is you and me, not the FCC. Obama made the correct choice for his campaign by choosing to take money directly from the people, the public, that he has chosen to represent. Members of the public are you and me who aren't corporations or the elite, that the REPUBLICANS represent.

The public needs to make sure that they send their public money to Obama as Obama has chosen to rely on small donations of their public money, instead of Wall Street's BIG DONERS.

Barack Obama IS taking public money --- money directly from the public. How could it be more public money?

Excuse me, in my above post at 5:37pm 6/22, that government office is not the FCC government office, but the FEC government office, that John McCain signed with in order to obtain his funding, account his campaign ran out of money. The FEC is different, but is still a government office, and a government office doling out public money,

Money directly from the public is what politics is all about. WE THE PEOPLE, the public, DO NOT NEED the government to dole out our public money, we can dole it out ourselves. Whoever gets to dole out the money is the one who has the power, and the people MUST have the power of their public money --- not the government.

McCain Myth Buster: John McCain and Campaign Finance Laws
June 20, 2008
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John McCain claims he is following campaign finance laws. But the reality is when it's inconvenient to his campaign, Senator McCain thinks the rules don't apply to him--even going as far as breaking the law. Senator McCain is violating campaign laws by using a corporate jet for campaign events but not reimbursing the corporation for the cost of the trips. And he is skirting FEC regulations for the primary by unilaterally withdrawing from the FEC's matching funds program that financially benefited his campaign--a move FEC Chair David Mason raised questions about months ago. [johnmccain.com, accessed 6/19/08; Wall Street Journal, 6/18/08]

That's not the kind of transparency the American people are looking for after seven years of a president with utter disregard for the law.

Wall Street Journal: McCain Campaign Fails to Reimburse For Up To Four Campaign Flights. "She used the jet on several trips last year that included campaign-related activity but never got campaign reimbursement, according to flight-tracking records and campaign-finance reports verified by the McCain campaign. At the New York fund-raiser, she spoke on stage, warming up the audience for her husband. If the campaign had paid for Mrs. McCain's trip to New York and three others that appear to have included some campaign work, it would likely have cost a total of about $15,000, the equivalent of first-class fare for the trips combined." [Wall Street Journal, 6/18/08: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121374837867082729-lMyQjAxMDI4MTEzNzcxNDc4Wj.html ]

Republican Expert: McCain Should Have Paid for the Flights. "Jan Baran, a Republican campaign lawyer, said the campaign should have paid. 'I don't know why they want to fight it,' he said. 'The chutzpah is not that they're not paying for this trip, it's that they're using a corporate airplane at a highly discounted rate.'" [Wall Street Journal, 6/18/08: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121374837867082729-lMyQjAxMDI4MTEzNzcxNDc4Wj.html ]

New York Times: McCain Used Unresolved Loophole in His Own Reform Law to Get Discounted Flights. "Mr. McCain's campaign paid a total of $241,149 for the use of that plane from last August through February, records show. That amount is approximately the cost of chartering a similar jet for a month or two, according to industry estimates. The senator was able to fly so inexpensively because the law specifically exempts aircraft owned by a candidate or his family or by a privately held company they control. The Federal Election Commission adopted rules in December to close the loophole -- rules that would have required substantial payments by candidates using family-owned planes -- but the agency soon lost the requisite number of commissioners needed to complete the rule making. Because that exemption remains, Mr. McCain's campaign was able to use his wife's corporate plane like a charter jet while paying first-class rates, several campaign finance experts said. Several of those experts, however, added that his campaign's actions, while keeping with the letter of law, did not reflect its spirit." [New York Times, 4/27/08: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/us/politics/27plane.html?_r=1&oref=slogin]

FEC Did Not Grant McCain Permission To Withdraw From Public Financing System in the Primary. According to the Washington Post, "The nation's top federal election official told Sen. John McCain yesterday that he cannot immediately withdraw from the presidential public financing system as he had requested, a decision that threatens to dramatically restrict his spending until the general election campaign begins in the fall… Mason notified McCain that the commission had not granted his Feb. 6 request to withdraw from the presidential public financing system." [Washington Post, 2/22/08]

FEC Raised Questions About A Loan the McCain Received. According to the Associated Press, "The government's top campaign finance regulator says John McCain can't drop out of the primary election's public financing system until he answers questions about a loan he obtained to kickstart his once faltering presidential campaign… Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason, in a letter to McCain this week, said the all-but-certain Republican nominee needs to assure the commission that he did not use the promise of public money to help secure a $4 million line of credit he obtained in November." [AP/MSNBC, 2/21/08]

After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the man behind the myth.

http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/06/mccain_myth_bus_89.php

Don't be snow? I hadn't given it a moment's thought, and if you were trying to say 'naive' -why I believe the only one here being naive, or more appropriately, disingenuous, is you.

I think this a brilliant move by Obama --and Moveon. It is a true/truer reflection of democracy, where every American can have a say and make an impact.

Rick, the real question is who are the one's backing Senator McBush. The ones who are out front are scary enough. 1.) Phil Gramm the guy, along with his wife Wendy,who put the Enron loophole in that has resulted in the egregious fraud that Enron perpetrated. It also is what allowed the Sub-prime mortgage debacle and is adding a significant margin to the oil trading market Ten we have Charley Black the lobbyist who has gone hand in hand with Gramm and his backers all the way through. The list is endless, but it will give you start. if you have any objectivity at all it should turn your stomach. I don't think it will though--the brain washing they have given you seems impenetrable.