I would like to start by introducing myself in a way that Cheryl Weisbard didn’t. First, I am not a lawyer. Second, I am not in politics as a full-time occupation, nor am I an author or professor. I am a fat cat, in the old tradition, and in the new tradition. Fred Wertheimer and Common Cause thought they were going to make a skinny cat out of me and reduce me to the same level as everybody else, but I figured out a way to fool them and I will tell you about that a little later.

I have a hunch that attorneys will absolutely love this new law, theFederal Election Campaign Act. You know why? Fred Wertheimer has mentioned that it is an incumbents’ protection act; I am convinced that it is an employment act for attorneys. You cannot begin to maneuver in the field of campaign finance without consulting an attorney and hiring a good accountant to keep track of what you are doing. I must make a few miscellaneous remarks about some of the previous comments and then I’ll get to independent expenditures, and then independent campaigns.