First, an apology. I haven't been reading posts on Kos as much as I'd hoped recently, so I might have missed an entire thread on this topic. Anyway, here goes:
There is a movement in Congress to severely curtail (actually, in practical terms, to abolish) 527 organizations like ACT and MoveOn. The piece of legislation in question is called "McCain-Feingold II" after its two main sponsors, but one of the primary movers is Chuck Schumer of New York. Basically, it would regulate 527's as political committees, i.e. PAC's. Meaning: 527's could no longer accept donations of larger than $5,000. This, of course, shifts the advantage squarely to the R's, since they have a huge head start in the $1-5,000 donor category. We've been surviving with a few big boys and all of the small donors.
Worse, this would apply to ALL 527's, including those who do nothing more sinister than registering voters IN A NON-PARTISAN WAY. This is really an outrage, an affront at free speech and a sure way to disempower the very institutions that helped reinvigorate progressive politics in 2004.
Schumer is involved in this because he wants all progressive money to flow BACK into the Democratic Party, so that the party is the only game in town. First, it won't work, and second, it stabs us grassroots activists in the back. For the time being, the energy is here, not there.
We need all Kossacks to talk to their Senators about this legislation, S. 271, which is riding pretty much under the radar for now.
Peace out.