From WNYC in New York, this is NPR's on the media.

I'm Brooke Gladstone.

And I'm Bob Garfield.

The FEC, the Federal Election Commission, regulates the presidential election, and as you may have heard, there's one coming up in 2008.

So the FEC is probably fully staffed and humming along, right?

No, the group, which is supposed to be composed

of six members, currently has three that are recess appointees. If they are not confirmed, and they

may not be, their terms will end very soon, and then the commission will be without a quorum

and unable to act after January 1st.

So something has to give or the country could head into an election year without a functioning regulatory body in place to do its job.

What would that look like?

For some who consider the existence of the FEC and a front to free speech, it would mean a purer freedom.

For others who believe that regulation protects us from the corruption that happens when politics meets money,

it would be a mess.

Think battalions of Swift Boat smear campaigns.

Let's begin with the anti-regulation argument.

Brad Smith was once chairman of the FEC.

His group is the Center for Competitive Politics, and he joins us now. Brad, welcome to OTIM.

Hi, Bob. Thanks.

If there is no FEC after January 1st, what happens?

What would happen is that complaints that are already in the pipeline, that is where

people have alleged that others have already violated campaign finance laws, the staff at the

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