Another Reason McCain-Finegold Should Be Repealed

QandO has two very good posts on the possible implications of the Campaign Finance Reform legislation on internet activity, including blogging. McCain’s bastard step-child and the law of unintended consequences & Campaign Finance Reform Comes to Blogging :

Bradley Smith says that the freewheeling days of political blogging and online punditry are over.

In just a few months, he warns, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate's press release to a mailing list, depending on the details, could be punished by fines.

Bradley Smith, in case you're wondering, is a member of the Federal Election Commission. Now I'm not sure how much of Smith's warning will actually come true, but its certainly worth looking at what's going on if for no other reasons than to appreciate the consequences poorly thought out and crafted legislation such as that McCain and Finegold have given us.

Great. This is exactly what everybody needs.

I've always had a problem with the "campaign finance reform" efforts because of their implications for free speech rights and the infringement thereof. That concern just seems to be multiplied after reading statements like the above. Just imagine the bureaucratic nightmare they would have to institute to even attempt to enforce McCain/Finegold with the 8 million or so bloggers there are today.

But after our recent election experience there is a more basic problem with McCain/Finegold. It hasn't changed anything. Did anyone notice a substantive difference in the 2004 presidential campaign from either the 1992 or 1996? I sure didn't.

So what's the point of McCain/Finegold? To alllow members of Congress to pat themselves on the back for having done something? No thanks.

This is one instance where nothing is better than something.