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s/o: Palin's wardrobegate breaks the law?
ESF pointed this out below, and it's not really being addressed, so I thought I'd post more info here. Aside from the utter hypocrisy of the $150k wardrobe, it looks like it very well may be against the very law that McCain authored.
The 2002 campaign finance law that bears McCain's name specifically barred any funds that "are donated for the purpose of supporting the activities of a federal or state office holder" from being used for personal expenses including clothing. A quirk in the law does not specifically mention party committees, however.
That doesn't mean the expenditure would not be subject to a challenge before the Federal Election Commission.
Lawrence M. Noble, former general counsel at the FEC, noted that as a coordinated party expense, the clothing purchase could be considered a contribution to the campaign.
"And if it was a contribution, then it could not have been used for buying clothing," Noble said. "I don't know how the FEC would come out on that question."
Re: s/o: Palin's wardrobegate breaks the law?
Oh yes! This would be point five in my diatribe below.
(5) This action may or may not violate campaign finance law that McCain himself drafted.
Seriously, it's like a bad Shakespeare play. Lol!
Love it, LMW -- Hypocrisy in Five Acts!
my read shelf:
No it doesn't break the law b/c the RNC bought them.
You know what's funny? Bringing this up has exposed the left b/c some democrat pundit leaked that designers donate clothes to liberal politicians, which is apparently illegal. I don't care, but it's just funny. No one has ever heard about that and it gets zero press coverage but that's no surprise.
I can't find a cite for this. If the liberals are indeed doing something that violates federal campaign finance law, the FEC would/will be on it.
******
No it doesn't break the law b/c the RNC bought them.
This is not per se true. If the RNC bought them and then donated them to the MPC it would be considered a campaign contribution and campaign contributions cannot be used for personal use such as clothing per the McCaingn-Feingold law.
I know you can't find a cite for it. That's why I said no one has ever heard about it and it gets no coverage. I'll try to get the leaker's name for you tomorrow.
The clothing wasn't a contribution b/c it doesn't belong to Palin. That's why she doesn't get to keep it.
From Politico:
Los Angeles-based image consultant Patsy Cisneros, a part owner of Political Icon, which works with candidates running for higher office, said Palin?s transformation was done well on a short timeline.
...
And as for the Palin family makeover being charged to the campaign, Cisneros said it isn?t unusual. ?We?ve worked with candidates before who have money to spend ? some of it was their own, and some of it was from the party. It was put in under so many different ways. You would be surprised what money gets spent.?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14844.html
Ah yes, the Wednesday morning announcement that it was all going to be donated after the campaign was done in order to avoid breaking any law. If your story holds that the Dems get clothes from designers scott free, I wouldn't be surprised that the clothes are merely borrowed, returned, or donated after they are done with them as well.Really, no politician is allowed to accept gifts over a certain dollar amount w/out facing serious repercussions either by state or federal ethics commissions. Therefore, if they are doing something illegal, it won't be hard to catch them and make them face the wrath of the FEC.
And the "you can't find it b/c no one has heard of it" is a bit circular, no? Would love to see more info on Dems when you find it.
I don't expect anyone else to believe it without proof. I heard it on the radio, not online so that's why I can't c&p anything right now (although I didn't search too hard for it). In order to be caught by the FEC someone would have to care, and it's apparent no one does.
Speaking of straw man arguments, how about McCain's campaign is only donating the clothing to ensure they don't break any laws. They might have violated the law if they didn't follow the law. That's crafty.
You're such a quick-draw McGraw. I ditto you. That's message board code for I
you.
To be honest I don't believe it w/out more info. Which Dem? And which laws did they violate? There are probably 51 different campaign finance reform laws (the 50 states each have their own laws for their state/local officials and the federal government have laws that govern federal candidates). There is frankly not enough information here to just make the conclusion that "Dems break the law."
You are right that in order for the FEC to care about campaign violations, someone would have to care, but that someone is the FEC. The FEC is headed by a Republican administration so I highly doubt that they would not care that Democratic federal candidates were violating the law.
As to my crafty allegations about announcement timing, well now let's not be naive here. The GOP had "no comment" all day Tuesday until election lawyers began hinting the expenditures may or may not be legal. Once the word legality hit the papers, the GOP announced "we are donating!!!!" Forgive me for being so cynical about timing.
Palin's clothes will be donated to charity later on.
This was not illegal and is common practice.
Hillary among others accept designer clothing free of charge. Some jewelry as well.
Many people in the public eye have wardrobes provided for them.
Has anyone checed who provided Michele Obama's clothing? If they bought them, they no doubt got the deep designer discount.