On March 1, the 11th circuit (headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia) ruled that the Reform Party’s lawsuit to avoid repaying $333,558 to the Federal Election Commission cannot possibly succeed, because only the federal courts in the District of Columbia can entertain such a lawsuit. The case is FEC v Reform Party of the US, 05-17083. Thanks to Ed Still for this news.
That’s the deathstroke.
Since April 2004 the abandoned shells of the various state Natural Law Party organizations, and the 1995 founding of the American Reform Party: Two, not one but two, open whole sale avenues of migration since the turn of the century!
Maybe the Reform Party movement does not deserve to exist?
Here on the Left Coast, the current [John Blare] and former [Valli Sharpe-Geisler] state chairs have been named party defendants in numerous law suits.
Maybe its time to pay the bill. Several donors are are available inside and outside of the party.
It is not the end of anything. Political parties exist at the state level, and then come together to make a presidential nomination. Also, candidates can continue to raise money as normal. The store is open.
The good news is that the bad news is wrong. The case is NOT concluded AT ALL. The news item above is incorrect at face value, and has come about because of an incomplete reading of the rulings, or simply a misunderstanding of the text’s full implications if examined in their entirety. If that’s a little vague, I apologize. As Chairman, I can’t comment further at this time except to say that the case is still active – it ain’t over. More details will be available at another time.
Although I will not get involved in the internal factional disputes of the Reform Party (or any other party), I have to say that my friend, Don Lake, is certainly correct when he writes about the lack of vision of the Reform Party as a whole. There was simply no excuse for letting the Natural Law Party’s unwanted ballot access in California (and other states) go to waste. Is the Reform Party trying to catch up with the Peace and Freedom Party of California’s former Old Guard Leaders in taking a party through the stages of “The Drama Queen of California Politics” to “The California Party of Political Irrelevancy”?
Proletarian Phil
Sacramento, California
Member: CUIP; GPUS