Although some have criticized the Federal Election Commission fo being slow to act in some campaign finance cases, the Commission showed today this it is capable of acting in a major way. The AP's Sharon Theimer reports.

Federal election officials on Monday sued a political group to try to force it to comply with campaign finance limits, the first lawsuit of its kind to arise from controversial big-money fundraising during the 2004 elections.

The Federal Election Commission filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Washington against the Club for Growth. The pro-Republican group spent at least $21 million in the 2003-04 election cycle.

The FEC contends the Club spent enough in federal races to require it to file with the commission as a political committee and abide by contribution and spending limits. It wants the court to fine the group and to order it to comply with campaign finance rules.

[...]

FEC Vice Chairman Michael Toner called the case "one of the most important suits the commission has brought in recent years."

"At stake is whether Club for Growth will be able to continue raising and spending millions of dollars in soft money for activities influencing federal elections," said Toner, a Republican.

The lawsuit is the first to result from several complaints filed against pro-Republican and pro-Democratic "soft money groups," and could serve as a test case to see if the commission can rein in the groups without new congressional legislation or FEC rules.

Aside from reining in the Club for Growth, a good move in and of itself, this is a good first step towards strong enforcement of campaign finance limits by the FEC. Even if this harms the fundraising capabilities of 527s aligned with the Democrats, good government fans on the left must be pleased by this move.