The Supreme Court has already ruled on it. Ref: McConnell ruling. According to the ruling, not only MoveOn.org, but any section 527 organization violating the new ruling is subject to federal penalties.
Ironic considering all this was started by McCain's "Campaign Finance Reform" proposition. What had been just fine for the last 25 years is no longer valid. In addition, tacked onto the reform package is a gag ruling against organizations mentioning political candidates on the nation's television and radio airwaves a full 60 days before the general election, and until the polls close on Nov 2nd.
This is a blatant assault on the First Amendment, and was designed to hobble the NRA; however, what applies to them applies to everyone. That being the case, yes indeed, the ads are in violation of federal statues as it now stands, if any political candidates are mentioned.
Now we will see if all section 527 organizations obey the law, or if it only applies to pro-Bush organizations. In any event, as mentioned in the article, President Bush has $100 million to work with, so this most likely won't affect the outcome of the election much, far as Bush is concerned.
What it will do is make it much more difficult for the NRA to publish candidates' stances on Second Amendment issues before an election, i.e. no TV or radio ads. So this spells bad news for the NRA and the Second Amendment. I should think it would legally apply to other issues championed by other organizations as well. Organizations such as Planned Parenthood, Sierra Club, etc, etc...
Here is an abuse of the First Amendment ruled on favorably by the Supreme Court. It is an outragous ruling where the SC is clearly wrong.
Les
