The first question when dealing with any governmental agency should be: "Where in the Constitution does it specifically authorize your agency's existence?" If they cannot answer, then the agency, bureau, or commission is not a legal group. An illegal group should not be "obeyed" or listened to. If the government gets its authorization to exist from the Constitution, then they should be forced to play by the rules and follow that Constitution, right?
I mention this because Federal Election Commission regulations demand that a candidate must do certain things that accomplish nothing other than protect the status quo.
In order to have an "official, FEC sanctioned" campaign, I am required to appoint a campaign committee, and that committee is required to open a bank account. The bank account requires a Social Security number. Do you even realize how many unconstitutional requirements there are in that string of demands? How can a libertarian justify obeying illegal demands from an illegal governmental bureaucracy?
I do agree that there should be oversights to protect elections from fraud, if elections are deemed to be necessary. That oversight should not be from a governmental agency or commission. "Fox guarding the hen house"? That doesn't even begin to describe to conflict of interest that the FEC demonstrates. It is just as bad an idea as having judges work for the government instead of for the individual people. You will have an obligation to whosoever hands you your paycheck, regardless of where the money originates.
That is why I remain a stubborn, principled, write-in candidate. Judge me if you want to, but that is where I stand.
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The Constitution created Congress, and gave Congress the power to make laws. One of those laws is the FECA, and the FEC was created by Congress to enforce and administer the FECA. It's therefore not illegal, and it's not unconstitutional.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how the simple requirements set forth to file with the FEC "protect the status quo". The campaign committee helps prevent fraud by making more than one person accountable. Of course you have to have a bank account, because there needs to be a strict accounting of funds received and spent. You give the FEC your SSN so that you are distinguishable from anyone else who has the same name.
I don't think those requirements are unreasonable at all, especially for someone seeking the highest office in the land.
If that were the case then no law could ever be unconstitutional since congress made it. The PATRIOT act was, after all, passed by congress, as was the 1934 National Firearms Act, and every other "law" that is in direct violation of what the Constitution allows.
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