FEC Will Not Allow Bitcoin Campaign Contributions 49
First time accepted submitter memnock writes "ABC new reports: 'Political organizations can't accept contributions in the form of bitcoins, at least for now, The Federal Election Commission said Thursday. The commission passed on a request by the Conservative Action Fund, a political action committee, to use the digital currency. That group had asked the FEC recently whether it could accept bitcoins, how it could spend them and how donors must report those contributions. It was not immediately clear whether the same ruling would apply to individual political candidates.' Slashdot reported earlier this week that other federal agencies have taken positions that may recognize or regulate the currency."
unless... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: unless... (Score:5, Insightful)
A corp doesn't have to choose - in close campaigns the big ones donate to both so they're owed regardless of the outcome
Re:sure they can. (Score:2, Insightful)
And just how do you verify who is the actual sender? How do you know it's not a foreign campaign donation? Or above the legal limit?
We already have bought and sold pseudo politicians running the country. This doesn't make it better.
Re:This is because BitCoin's value is relevant... (Score:2, Insightful)
If it moves from 200 to 1000 over a few weeks, it's not stable, nor mature.
Re:sure they can. (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not quite like that. The FEC governs how elections are run here down to how campaign workers can spend their time. Due to our first amendment (which is a great amendment, don't get me wrong) anyone can pretty much give anything to a candidate. This combined with our de facto 2 party system (which is protected by the 2 parties, not the constitution) sets up the perfect pay-for-play political system. Organizations give money to candidates and expect results... and usually get them. The our media which is already reeling from financial loses to the internet gets their largest revenue from elections and political ads. The candidates spend so much money on a single campaign now that anyone not willing to except large donations with strings, has absolutely no chance of even showing up on the ballot much less getting elected. The only way they can even get on local news stations is to make statements so outlandish that the media has to put them on.
I suspect that this decision will be challenged in court and reversed based on the 1st amendment and the fact that the rest of the fed seems to be accepting it as a legit currency. Our only real hope for reform in this country is that the 2 parties eventually screw up so badly that the general populace loses faith in both them and the media that supports them. But I'm not holding my breath.