https://sputnikglobe.com/20240712/the-us-treasury-is-denying-jill-stein-matching-funds-the-fec-awarded---campaign-manager-1119345703.html
The US Treasury is Denying Jill Stein Matching Funds the FEC Awarded - Campaign Manager
The US Treasury is Denying Jill Stein Matching Funds the FEC Awarded - Campaign Manager
Sputnik International
Candidate for the Green Party nomination for president, Jill Stein, was awarded matching funds by the Federal Election Commission, but the US Treasury is refusing to hand it over.
2024-07-12T19:24+0000
2024-07-12T19:24+0000
2024-07-12T19:42+0000
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Jill Stein, the leading candidate for the Green Party’s nomination for president is being denied federal matching funds they are entitled to, Stein campaign manager Jason Call said on Tuesday.The funds come from an optional $3 donation to the Presidential Matching Fund on the US individual federal tax returns. That fund is designed to match political donations under $250 to campaigns that meet certain thresholds and do not take private contributions or spend more than $123.5 million.Last week, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) confirmed that the Stein campaign reached that threshold and should be awarded $100,000 immediately, with more to come monthly. Call says the total amount should be around $270,000. The Stein campaign was the only active campaign to reach the required threshold.However, the US Treasury has declined to distribute the funds, citing a shortfall. In March, the government raided the fund of $400 million as part of the $1.2 trillion spending package that averted a government shutdown. Most of that, $320 million, was used to fund the Secret Service, $55 million was appropriated for election security, and $25 million went to the Justice Department.The fund was flush with cash to be raided because, for the last several elections, the two major parties have largely ignored it. According to FEC figures, the fund distributed an average of $165,138,480 per election to the two major parties from its formation in 1974 until 2008, the last election both parties took a significant amount of money from the fund. Since 2008, only $1,088,929 has been distributed to the Democratic Party and none to the Republican party.According to Call, the Treasury said it has to wait until after each party’s convention to see if they will take money from the fund, before distributing the funds the Stein campaign has earned, despite neither party taking general election funds in recent elections due to the restrictions it puts on campaigns. He added that it is not clear if or when the funds will be disbursed. He told Sputnik that even if the funds are eventually distributed, the delay will still harm the campaign.Call added that since the funds are for the primary season, the Stein campaign would only be able to use the funds to pay for debts incurred during the primary season and not for the general election, putting them in a precarious position of potentially being bankrupted if the campaign spends the money and then are later denied disbursement.“Incurring debt is an extremely risky proposition under these auspices. We could incur the debt in the primary, and they could still deny us the funds, 'There's a shortfall!' And we would then be stuck with the debt,” Call explained. “In fact, given that [the] Treasury is a politicized department, we think they would probably still deny us the funds to bankrupt us,” he argued, noting that the Democratic Party is suing to keep Stein off the ballot in Nevada, a tactic he says the Democrats are not using to win, but rather tie up resources for the campaign.The US Treasury did not respond to Sputnik’s request for comment.
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jill stein, green party denied funds, stein campaign denied funds, treasury blocks funds, presidential matching fund
jill stein, green party denied funds, stein campaign denied funds, treasury blocks funds, presidential matching fund
The US Treasury is Denying Jill Stein Matching Funds the FEC Awarded - Campaign Manager
19:24 GMT 12.07.2024 (Updated: 19:42 GMT 12.07.2024) The FEC announced on June 26 that the campaign of Green Party candidate Jill Stein had become eligible for matching funds for the primary season of her campaign.
Jill Stein, the leading candidate for the Green Party’s nomination for president is being denied federal matching funds they are entitled to, Stein campaign manager Jason Call
said on Tuesday.The funds come from an optional $3 donation to the Presidential Matching Fund on the US individual federal tax returns. That fund is designed to match political donations under $250 to campaigns that meet certain thresholds and do not take private contributions or spend more than $123.5 million.
Last week, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) confirmed that the Stein campaign reached that threshold and should be awarded $100,000 immediately, with more to come monthly. Call says the total amount should be around $270,000. The Stein campaign was the only active campaign to reach the required threshold.
However, the US Treasury has declined to distribute the funds, citing a shortfall. In March, the government raided the fund of $400 million as part of the $1.2 trillion spending package that averted a government shutdown. Most of that, $320 million, was used to fund the Secret Service, $55 million was appropriated for election security, and $25 million went to the Justice Department.
The fund was flush with cash to be raided because, for the last several elections, the two major parties have largely ignored it. According to FEC figures, the fund distributed an average of $165,138,480 per election to the two major parties from its formation in 1974 until 2008, the last election both parties took a significant amount of money from the fund. Since 2008, only $1,088,929 has been distributed to the Democratic Party and none to the Republican party.
According to Call, the Treasury said it has to wait until after each party’s convention to see if they will take money from the fund, before distributing the funds the Stein campaign has earned, despite neither party taking general election funds in recent elections due to the restrictions it puts on campaigns. He added that it is not clear if or when the funds will be disbursed. He told Sputnik that even if the funds are eventually distributed, the delay will still harm the campaign.
“If [any party hits] 5% in 2024 they would be eligible for those funds in the 2028 general election. So, them denying us primary matching funds now is limiting our ballot access efforts now because that's what we are putting the majority of our funds into,” Call explained in a message to Sputnik, “Therefore [it is] going to limit our opportunity to get 5% in this election. They are taking away our potential voter base and thus prevent us [from] being eligible for those funds in 2028.”
Call added that since the funds are for the primary season, the Stein campaign would only be able to use the funds to pay for debts incurred during the primary season and not for the general election, putting them in a precarious position of potentially being bankrupted if the campaign spends the money and then are later denied disbursement.
“Incurring debt is an extremely risky proposition under these auspices. We could incur the debt in the primary, and they could still deny us the funds, 'There's a shortfall!' And we would then be stuck with the debt,” Call explained. “In fact, given that [the] Treasury is a politicized department, we think they would probably still deny us the funds to bankrupt us,” he argued, noting that the Democratic Party is suing to keep Stein off the ballot in Nevada, a tactic he says the Democrats are not using to win, but rather tie up resources for the campaign.
“I call this the WalMart approach to democracy,” explained Call. “Simply using unlimited resources to overwhelm the opposition. We just submitted a confirmed qualifying number of good signatures for Ohio. I have no doubt they will file some legal action to keep us off the ballot there also.”
The US Treasury did not respond to Sputnik’s request for comment.
