527s

I know as much about campaign finance laws as... well, who the hell knows a damn thing about campaign finance laws. My head starts hurting when I try reading about them. But, in discussing new regulations for 527s which could hurt Dems, Nick Confessore asks a question I've been nursing for awhile:

Where has the Republican soft money gone? I find it hard to believe, as some pro-reform folks do, that McCain-Feingold sent that money into oblivion. The Republicans aren't stupid. They have their own version of the Democratic 527 infrastructure already up and running -- one that probably doesn't rely on 527s but on other kinds of organizations. So why isn't the press reporting on it?

The Right has tons of little political groups which pop up like weeds any time they're necessary (Americans United for Happy Loving Families! Patriots for Tax Relief Now! etc...). How are they classified? Where is they money coming from? Are they following the rules? Why doesn't the press ever talk about them?