-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- Lawmakers puzzled by Bush's proposals to reform campaign finance Copyright � 2000 Nando Media Copyright � 2000 Associated Press By LAURIE KELLMAN WASHINGTON (February 15, 2000 9:02 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Friends and foes say Gov. George W. Bush's plan to crack down on big money politics may work in Texas, but it would be doomed on Capitol Hill. The plan contains proposals that already have died with legislation sponsored by his opponent for the GOP presidential nomination, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Still, McCain, who has forced Bush into a tight race for the nomination, congratulated the governor on following his lead on banning some types of "soft money" contributions. "The next thing you know he's going to move to Arizona," McCain cracked while campaigning in South Carolina. Bush has proposed several points of his plan before, including banning the practice of "rolling over" money from a previous campaign to a current political bid, as McCain has done this year to the tune of $2 million. Bush sharpened the proposal Tuesday in a direct shot at McCain's claim to be a campaign finance reformer. "Eliminate 'roll-over' loophole and prevent incumbents from transferring excess funds from a prior federal campaign (e.g., for the Senate- to a subsequent campaign for a different federal office (e.g., for the presidency)," reads the governor's press release. The jockeying, hours before the two were to meet in their last debate before the South Carolina primary Saturday, represented a Bush effort to dull McCain's claim as the race's only true reformer. But experts on both sides described Bush's proposal as incomplete, puzzling and legislatively doomed. Mirroring a law that governs the Texas Legislature, Bush's plan says lobbyists should be prohibited from donating money to campaigns when Congress is in session. Bush and his aides offered few specifics, other than to say contributions would be permitted during any congressional recess - be it on a weekend, the month of August or when a Congress reaches the end of its two-year lifespan. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., who is supporting McCain, said the proposal would be hard to put into effect given the nature of Washington's 24-hour-a- day, seven-day-a-week political industry. "It's ridiculous," Hagel said in an interview. "I don't know if that's just a lack of his understanding of the process or not." Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, argued that the problem with Bush's proposal was "more of a manifestation that they just haven't defined it properly." "It's clearly unconstitutional," added Bennett, who is supporting Bush. "It would be a bitter pill to swallow," said John Czwartacki, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. "Congress is in session for so much of the year, unlike state legislatures. And when they're not in session, they go home." Bush did get support for the proposal from one lawmaker from his native state. "When Governor Bush becomes president next year, I will be happy to carry his proposal in the Senate," Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said in a statement. It's not likely to get far. Another part of the Bush proposal has already been branded a "poison pill" because it would almost surely kill any campaign finance legislation to which it was attached. The proposal, dubbed "paycheck protection," would specify that union members would have the right to refuse to pay any portion of their dues used by the union for political purposes. Unions, which overwhelmingly support Democrats, vehemently oppose the provision and mobilize huge resources to block it. In a statement Tuesday, Bush's campaign said that "Senator McCain would permit this abuse." In fact, McCain supports paycheck protection but declined to add it to his campaign finance bill in an effort to preserve the underlying legislation, which later died. McCain offered to introduce paycheck protection as a free-standing bill, according to Senate aide Mark Busey. Bennett said Bush had no choice but to include that cornerstone of GOP campaign finance reform. "I think he would have been subject to serious criticism among Republicans who understand the issue if he had left it out," Bennett said. 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