I missed this headline over the holiday, but it would seem as though the government agency in charge of regulating elections and political contributions, the Federal Election Commission, has shut down just as we begin to enter the political season in earnest because the Democrats won’t confirm Bush’s appointees to the commission.

The federal agency in charge of policing the torrent of political spending during the upcoming presidential primaries will, for all practical purposes, shut its doors on New Year’s Eve.

The Federal Election Commission will effectively go dark on Jan. 1 because Congress remains locked in a standoff over the confirmation of President Bush’s nominees to the panel. As a consequence, the FEC will enter 2008 with just two of six members—short of the four votes needed for the commission to take any official action.

Hmm.  Why would Democrats now want the agency in charge of monitoring political contributions operational during the political season?

Can anyone think of any reasons?

Ok, conspiracy theories aside, these days I feel like the FEC does more to stand in the way of free political speech than it does to stop shady electioneering.  So to be perfectly honest, this isn’t really breaking my heart at all.