FEC: You Pay, You Say

摘要

Quick-hit TV and radio political spots must still carry a spoken sponsorship identification, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) ruled last week in a decision partisans say could keep some dollars from flowing to broadcast coffers. In its first substantive opinion since seating a full complement of six commissioners, the FEC concluded that even 10- and 15-second TV and radio ads for or against federal candidates must include a spoken disclaimer at the end identifying the group responsible for the ad. The Club For Growth PAC last fall had sought an exemption for the short ads or at least the ability to truncate the so-called "stand-by-your-ad" statements. But the commissioners ruled there was no wiggle room in the law. "We were hoping to use these forms of ads, as were other nonprofit groups and other [Political Action Committees], but with this decision nobody is going to do it because it is impractical," said David Keating, executive director of the Club For Growth.