The final debate and vote on Campaign Finance Reform legislation in the Senate Wednesday was awaited by the national media with the breathless anticipation usually reserved for breaking news about JonBenet Ramsey.
Here was how important the actual Senators thought the proceedings were: On the first go-round, the vote was 7-3. Ten. TEN Senators were in the chamber for the big moment.
While Democrats in the Senate were doing their Hey-Nonny-Nonny Dance in the U.S. Capitol, this was the lead in Rick Klein's Boston Globe piece about how the Democrats in Massachusetts were preparing to deal with the news that Mitt Romney, not Jane Swift, would be the GOP candidate for Governor:
"Stung by the entry of a charismatic Republican and the exit of an embattled incumbent, Democratic Party leaders hit the phones yesterday in search of money for an anti-Mitt Romney television campaign, with labor and abortion rights groups among the first sources of cash � Insiders said that party-funded ads targeting Romney could be launched as soon as next week."
Memo to Capitol Hill Reporters from the Mullings Assignment Desk: Someone ask Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry (D-MA) why, if party-funded political attack advertising is such a bad thing in Washington, it's such a good thing in the Bay State?
When the projectile sweat dries from everyone's forehead, let's remember these two facts:
One: So far, in the 2002 election cycle, Republican political committees have out-raised the Dems in hard money: $131 Million to $60 Million.
Two: Of the top five SOFT money donors, four are Unions. Want to guess the split between Democrats and Republicans among those four? $15.5 Million to Democrats. $30 THOUSAND to Republicans.
Speaking of TV ads: NBC, under pressure from the very same Congress which voted to ban a large percentage of political ads, announced it will drop its plan to accept hard liquor advertising.
As a matter of history, there is no rule or law which forbids those ads. There was an agreement between the distillers and the broadcast networks back in 1948. That agreement did not, obviously, extend to beer or wine.
Members of Congress - who suddenly exhibited this ability to quake with righteous indignation over promoting a product which can lead to potentially harmful behavior - should be asked (after reporters finish grilling Senator Kerry) why they are not similarly bothered by the millions and millions of dollars spent on television by States advertising their lotteries.
Two things about this Immigration & Naturalization Service business: Am I the only one who remembers the debate over airport security? ONLY by making the screeners Federal employees would the system ever be deemed safe. The INS, when last we checked, is staffed by Federal employees.
Maybe we should just switch. Have the current airport screeners deal with immigrants - at least the language barrier will have been breached. Have INS employees work the x-ray machines and match boarding passes with IDs.
No. No. Wait! Better idea. If the problem is keeping track of foreigners who are in the US on student visas and the like, let's re-activate the Selective Service System. If keeping track of students is the problem, forget about the INS. Have them register with the Draft Board.
I've heard stories about people like the guy who:
- Was in a small college (in Marietta, Ohio) back in the 60's;
- Had just one bad semester (having found out that if you skip class they don't call your mom);
- Got booted out (by a black-robed, stone-hearted group of tenured professors called the "Committee on Academic Standing" but only because the name "Star Chamber" was already taken), and then;
- Woke up at 4:30 one morning to find his butt in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina doing calisthenics and learning a whole new way to string four-letter words together (starting what turned out to be a storied six-year Army National Guard career).
We could update the Selective Service System's famous slogan: "Uncle Sam Wants You" to "Uncle Sam Wants You � To Go Home."
Informally, we used to say the Draft Board's real slogan was: "See ya!"
Big SDR today. See a link to all the soft money donors, read a little Shakespeare, and see the Uncle Sam poster. Go to the Secret Decoder Ring page.
If you are working at a lobbying firm, a government affairs office, a coalition, or a PAC you should take a
look at this page to see how advertising in Mullings might serve your organization very well:
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