11.   Even if contributors gave to the fund, they could still pay for issue-related commercials for a candidate under the umbrella of independent expenditures.

12.   Gingrich in the past has resisted changes in the campaign finance system, but Tuesday he said he would welcome a comprehensive approach that put curbs on independent expenditures.

13.   In any event, language in other FEC Advisory Opinions suggests the opposite, namely that sometimes, in fact, parties do make independent expenditures.

14.   Independent expenditures on behalf of candidates have become so common in the United States that advertising by outside interest groups has started to swamp local campaigns.

15.   Independent expenditures that are coordinated with parties or expressly advocating a candidate.

16.   Independent expenditure committees are not new.

17.   It would not eliminate independent expenditures, but it would require those made close to election day to conform to the limits for regular campaign donations and expenditures.

18.   Other unions are planning independent expenditures as well.

19.   That means addressing stuff like soft money, PACs run by industries and labor unions, and all the independent expenditures by special interests.

20.   The AFL-CIO is permitted to spend as much as it likes because of relatively lax federal controls on so-called independent expenditures.