Burnt Orange Report

The Facts on Kerry's Tax Plan

By Byron LaMasters

The Media Fund has a good new ad that clearly lays out the differences between George W. Bush and John Kerry on taxes. It's what the Kerry campaign should have been doing a week ago, and its much more effective than the current Kerry ad.

Of course, the Bush campaign is accusing the Kerry campaign of illegally colaborating with MoveOn.org and The Media Fund. The Guardian reports:

President Bush's campaign and the GOP on Wednesday accused the campaign of Democrat John Kerry of illegally coordinating political ads and get-out-the-vote activities with anti-Bush groups and donors including billionaire George Soros.

The Bush campaign and the Republican National Committee said they would file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing Kerry and pro-Kerry groups of violating a campaign law that broadly bans the use of ``soft money'' - corporate, union and unlimited individual donations - to influence federal elections.

In a highly unusual move, the Bush campaign and RNC plan to ask the FEC to dismiss the complaint immediately so they can file a federal lawsuit to block the activities and force the groups to pay for presidential ads and get-out-the-vote drives with limited donations from individuals rather than soft money. Usually complainants pursue FEC action before going to court, but it can take months or even years for the commission to resolve complaints.

[...]

The GOP cited at least three factors it says prove coordination: links between people involved in some of the soft money groups and the Kerry campaign during the same election cycle; the timing of media buys in the same states and media markets; and TV stations receiving a Media Fund ad on Kerry's economic plan before Kerry publicly released the economic plan.

``I'd call it slanderous nonsense - the typical Republican politics of intimidation,'' said Media Fund spokesman Jim Jordan, a former Kerry campaign manager who is among those named in the complaint. He said the Media Fund ad on Kerry's economic positions mentioned only what Kerry has been saying publicly for months.

Wes Boyd, president of MoveOn, said in a statement: ``We do not coordinate with the Kerry campaign. These charges are baseless and irresponsible.''

The 527s are following the rules. Neither the MoveOn.org or The Media Fund ads are advocating the election or the defeat of any candidate, nor are they coordinating with the John Kerry campaign. At least, that's my understanding of the current law.