David M. Mason, chairman of the Federal Election Commission, has rejected Senator John McCain’s request to pull out of the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Program that he entered when his campaign was in the doldrums. Mason has cited two reasons: 1) the FEC has only 2/6 seats filled at present and so lacks a quorum and, 2) McCain used the program as collateral for a loan he took out from a bank late last year. The details of the second point are not fully clear and it appears that there may be two loans involved and not just one loan from a Bethesda bank that the Washington Post talks about.

But who cares about the FEC? What should the Federal Election Commission have to do with this anyway? That’s what former FEC chairman Trevor Potter, McCain’s “top lawyer” seems to think. From the Post’s story: “‘We believe that Senator McCain had a clear legal right to withdraw from the primary matching fund system, and he has done so,’ Potter told the Associated Press. ‘No FEC action was or is required for withdrawal.’”

I enjoy it when former top officials of a given agency, with the change of a hat, suddenly seem to think that the rules of their previous institution of employment are mere suggestions. Potter’s lack of respect for the FEC’s rules demonstrate the most egregious problem in Washington, D.C.: the fact that politicians believe that they are above the law when it inconveniences them. Jan Baran, a lawyer quoted in the Post’s article, is entirely right: “Ignoring the matter on the grounds that the FEC lacks a quorum, Baran said, ‘is like saying you’re going to break into houses because the sheriff is out of town.’”

If we want to improve the American political system, we can start by empowering politicians who respect the rule of law. Good-bye, George. Good-bye Hil.