Federal Election Commission

FEC chair who sought to regulate Drudge slams colleagues as ‘dysfunctional’

The chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission is slamming her colleagues on the way out, calling them “dysfunctional” and unable to compromise.

“My year as chair has taught me even more clearly just how dysfunctional the commission is, and how our dysfunction is harming the democratic process in this country,” Chairwoman Ann Ravel wrote in an opinion piece for the California blog “CalBuzz” on Monday.

Since assuming the chair’s position in January, Ravel has pursued an ambitious regulatory agenda that includes stricter regulation of campaign spending, eliminating some of the commission’s members, and, as noted by the Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard, new controls over online political content on outlets like the Drudge Report, Google and Facebook.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/fec-chair-who-sought-to-regulate-drudge-slams-colleagues-as-dysfunctional/article/2578893

It’s back: FEC says regulating Internet, Google, Facebook under its ‘purview’

After backing down amid concerns she wanted to regulate political speech, and even new sites like the Drudge Report, the chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission has renewed talk about targeting campaign and political activities on the internet.

Ann M. Ravel, discussing election regulation during a speech in New York, suggested it was time to produce “thoughtful policy” targeting internet political activity. She also expressed frustration that her last bid was met with “threatening misogynist responses to me.”

She was speaking at a day-long conference hosted by the Brennan Center for Justice, the New York City Campaign Finance Board, and the Committee for Economic Development when she was asked about regulating the internet, Google and Facebook.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2569255?