House members sue to stop 527s

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Sponsors of a landmark 2002 campaign finance law sued Tuesday to force the U.S. Federal Election Commission to restrict the activities of 527 groups.

Called 527s because of their classification by the IRS, such groups are allowed to collect unlimited amounts of unregulated money -- now off limits to political parties and individual candidates for office -- to promote their political activities. The 527 groups have become an integral part of this year's national elections by running attack ads against candidates from both major parties.

The suit filed in Washington by Reps. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Martin Meehan, D-Mass, is similar to a suit filed by the Bush re-election campaign earlier this month.

Both of the lawsuits seek to stop the political activities of such groups, claiming the FEC has failed to do its job in enforcing the 2002 law.