The opponents of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, upheld this week by the Supreme Court, continue to voice their outrage. While the soft money ban was the primary part of the bill, much of the whining is about the ban on certain issue ads by interest groups before an election.

I thought I'd present a little history lesson to readers here to advise exactly how this provision became part of the bill. It was not part of the bill as introduced by Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold. An amendment proposed by the late Sen. Paul Wellstone expanded a prohibition on issue ads to apply to all special interest groups. A previous amendment only restricted ads run by labor unions and corporations.

While McCain and Feingold both voted against it, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and other Republicans voted for the amendment which passed on a 51-46 vote. They did so in hopes that if the bill passed, the Supreme Court would strike down the entire bill. However, their non-severability amendment failed which is why certain components were upheld this week, and others were struck down.

The lesson here is that opponents like McConnell, who helped bring the case to the high court, have nobody to blame but themselves for the inclusion of this particular provision.