The Year in Review—March

The Nation | Top news stories for March, 2002 | Bob Jones

Free speech, and how to pay for it

When the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Right to Life are on the same side of an issue, it must be serious. The issue was a new law regulating political campaign advertising—otherwise known as campaign-finance reform—and a liberal/conservative courtroom alliance filed suit seemingly before the presidential ink was dry on March 27.

Campaign-finance reform was seven years in the making, but a reluctant President Bush signed the measure in private, before heading out on a political fundraising trip. A new law of this magnitude usually merits a big bill-signing ceremony, complete with souvenir pens, journalists, cameras, and happy lawmakers. Reporters covering the president pelted him with questions about whether he was hesitant to sign the bill. "It will probably take about three seconds to get to the W," Mr. Bush joshed. "I may hesitate on the period, and then rip through the Bush."