John McCain is off message.
Arizona U.S. Senator John McCain accused a pro-Mitt Romney super PAC of accepting “foreign money” from Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, in an Internet interview Friday.
“Obviously, maybe in a roundabout way, foreign money is coming into an American campaign,” Mr. McCain said.
The 2008 Republican presidential nominee is accusing Mr. Adelson of using profits from properties that he own’s in Macau to influence the general election. Mr. Adelson made a $10 million contribution to the Restore Our Future PAC on Wednesday, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Federal campaign laws prohibit foreign individuals from making campaign contributions.
I’m don’t really agree with McCain’s point. It’s Adelson’s money. He’s a citizen. But I appreciate that McCain is an equal-opportunity nag about Chinese money in our politics. The real problem here isn’t where the money was earned, but that there’s no limit to how much Adelson can spend to influence the election.
Well, at least Adelson bragged about contributing it. It’s not like it’s anonymously donated.
It’s worth pointing out the possibility of foreign contributions in the system, even if in this case it doesn’t apply.
For instance–and I don’t know the structure of Adelson’s corporate empire, but just as a hypothetical–say instead of Adelson contributing in his own name, he did it through one of his corporations that includes 40% foreign investors, and the contribution goes straight to a superPAC with no disclosure.
It could happen. Maybe it already has. Crossroads GPS as of April was already sitting on over $70 million, afaik much of it unaccounted for. They’ve disclosed some of their donors, but they don’t have to.
You’re right about McCain’s point, though. I work abroad and my money is perfectly legal to contribute to campaigns within the established limits–I suppose if I had a few million extra lying around that I earned here, I could do some superPAC-ing too.
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It’s about foreign interests, read some excellent pieces on the Adelson millions and his influence on US politicians and Israel interests.
Adelson’s PAC Freedom Watch Is Not About Foreign Money!
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."