And Another Thing...

Still need to know why campaign finance reform is a bad idea after reading my erudite posts here, here, here, and here? Well, you gotta love Ken Mehlman, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Per the Hill,

During yesterday’s meeting, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken
Mehlman warned members that Democratic 527s have been aggressively raising
money in anticipation of the 2006 midterm elections. He told the attendees
that Democrats have an “institutional advantage” in raising money through
527s because of the labor unions and special interest groups that line up
behind them, attendees said

Or as Roll Call put it (subscription required, so we'll dispense with the link):

The chairman of the Republican National Committee talked to GOP lawmakers on
both sides of the Capitol this week about the strategic importance to the party
of “addressing” the role of 527 organizations through legislation.
In separate meetings with Republicans in the House and Senate, RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman outlined why he believes the independent political organizations pose a
threat to GOP election prospects in 2006 and beyond if they are left unchecked.

Well, there's an inspiring message that liberals, conservatives, and centrists, Republicans and Democrats, can all rally around. We need more campaign finance reform because it will hurt Democrats!

Not that the Democrats are any better. Here's Democrat Al Wynn, promoting his campaign finance bill last month, again according to Roll Call:

“Leadership says, ‘Democrats have stood proudly as the party of reform. We
must continue to do so,’” Wynn wrote. “We’ve stood proudly as the minority party
for 10 years. Must we continue to do that too?”
Wynn reminded that House leaders promised the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act would lead Democrats to take back the House, telling his colleagues: “Funny, this doesn’t feel like the majority to me.”

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Remember: One of the Problems with Campaign Finance Reform is that it will always be used for partisan purposes. Bob Bauer, whose firm represented John Kerry's presidential campaign, which was not hesitatant to use the rules available for it's partisan ends, talks more about that problem here. Note that Bauer doesn't hold anything against Mehlman, who is just doing his job. Rather, it is the regulatory regime that makes such actions possible that Bauer condemns.