Bloomberg BNA: “The Federal Election Commission deadlocked along party lines Aug. 23 on an advisory opinion regarding fundamental issues of campaign finance law, including identifying ‘express advocacy’ messages and determining whether an organization is a ‘political committee’ subject to regulation. The deadlock on a ruling by a so-called Section 501(c)(4) organization called the National Defense Committee (AO 2012-27) highlighted unresolved questions about how the FEC will respond to increasing spending by many similar groups on political messages. Many of these organizations claim to be exempt from FEC rules requiring reporting of their donors and expenditures.”