In the case of NetizensForBradley.org, the specialist is the young Greg Laynor, who has read all the FEC literature but still concludes that "it's not clear if we're doing something wrong".
Yet an exceptionally large e-mail Christmas card list, or a highly-visited website, may be so influential and even so corrupting that it could draw the FEC's attention.Others say money should be the criterion for FEC involvement.
They stand until we rewrite them," Weintraub said.Kollar-Kotelly's ruling struck down 15 regulations that the six-member FEC had crafted to implement BCRA after its passage in 2002, concluding that the FEC had acted contrary to Congress' intent and "severely undermined" the nation's campaign finance law.Reps.
Five of the FEC's six commissioners are holdovers whose terms have expired, and Mr Potter contends that a more robust FEC could do better.Certain politicians have adopted a more extreme approach to reform, among them Jim McGovern, a liberal congressman from Massachusetts, and Tom Udall, a liberal senator from New Mexico.
Under FEC law, anyone employed by a formal campaign must undergo a 120-day waiting period before engaging with independent expenditures.
A former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission (FEC), he noted that the NRA had run afoul of the law years ago for transferring funds to its lobbying arm.
A spokesperson for the FEC, the regulatory body that oversees campaign finance, said the commission has no comment and directed concerns to the official complaint system.
The nonprofit does report such activity to the FEC, and frequently broadcasts its political might to both voters and elected leaders.
As long as they are independent of all parties and candidates, super PACs can raise unlimited sums and spend them urging the election or rejection of particular candidates.Moreover, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has defined independence so narrowly that it is almost meaningless.
Far from usurping the democratic process and narrowing voters' options, super PACs are actually adding to them, argues Bradley Smith, another former FEC commissioner.But the current muddle also endures because there is little agreement about what should replace it.
As for the FEC, it is too stuck in partisan gridlock to tighten its own rules.Many Republicans resist reform in part because they see super PACs as a possible counterweight to Mr Obama's overwhelming fund-raising advantage in 2008.
