As we get close to the end of the comment period and the next stage of the FEC rulemaking, news and commentary on this topic will increase. See this Washington Times editorial; Peter Overby’s “Pennsylvania Avenue” column on NPR’s website (featuring a very interesting quote from Trevor Potter of the Campaign Legal Center); and the Chicago Tribune.
Comments are also starting to be posted. One set of comments that should receive significant attention are these from the Online Coalition, a group of right and left leaning bloggers. There is much in here with which I agree, and much that I think likely will be reflected, in substance, in the FEC’s final rules. My two big areas of disagreement concern the treatment of paid bloggers (letter, page 6) and its suggestions for changing the news media exemption (letter, page 9): “A better approach would be to exempt ‘news, opinion or commentary’ regardless of mode of dissemination or the press or media bona fides of the speaker. Critics of this simpler approach object that the ‘exception would swallow the rule’ and allow for unlimited expenditures on political speech by corporations and other prohibited sources.” This is sure to be an interesting discussion.