McCain Camp Says He Can Avoid Money Caps

[Terri]

By JIM KUHNHENN
Associated Press
February 26, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign told federal regulators Monday that he does not need their approval to withdraw from the public finance system for the primaries.

The campaign, in a letter to Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason, also said McCain did not encumber his potential share of public matching funds as collateral for a crucial $4 million loan he obtained late last year.

McCain lawyer Trevor Potter said the Supreme Court concluded that public financing for campaigns is constitutional because it is voluntary. ''As a result, candidates have a constitutional right to withdraw from the program,'' Potter, a former FEC chairman, wrote Mason.

More (http://www.gopusa.com/news/2008/february/0226_mccain_loan1.sh tml)

[Petertherock]

I find it funny that his own campaign finance laws are going to bite him in the rear end. Hillary and Obama are going to have a field day with him on this issue.

[84rules]

Actually, I'm starting to think that there may have been a method to his madness.

From the article:

McCain's loan, from Fidelity & Trust Bank, has become a central issue in the Arizona senator's attempt to bypass the public financing system and the strict spending caps that come with it. Mason told McCain last week that the commission's approval was required and that he needed to explain the terms of his loan.

''The campaign did not use its federal matching fund certifications as security for the campaign's bank loan,'' Potter wrote.

Lawyers for the bank said in their own letter Monday that the loan agreement was carefully drafted to give McCain the opportunity to withdraw from public financing during the primary elections. They said the loan terms specifically excluded from the collateral any potential share of public matching funds McCain was entitled to receive.

Potter, a Republican appointee to the commission, submitted the bank lawyers' letter to Mason. One of those lawyers, Scott E. Thomas, is also a former FEC chairman and Democratic appointee to the panel.


John McCain found a way to spend as much on his campaign as he liked while at the same time ensuring that the taxpayers won't be saddled with his bill for doing so.

Sounds like good Capitalism to me!