Campaign Finance Reform
Uploaded by masone4718 on Jan 06, 2006
Funding is a crucial component of every political campaign. Over the past several decades, the cost of running a campaign has vastly increased. As a result, the United States Congress has produced several proposals on campaign finance reform. These proposals included the elimination of soft money and the raising of limits on individual contributions.
Of the various proposals discussed in Congress, one is the elimination of soft money. Soft money is donations given to political parties for party activities rather than in support of a particular candidate or campaign. Soft money is spent on activities such as voter registration and issue advertising. One proposal that was put forth in 1997 was the McCain-Feingold Bill, the basis of which was a ban on soft money. This bill would prohibit all soft money contributions to national political parties. Additionally, state parties that accepted these unregulated contributions would be prohibited from spending them on federal elections. There are, however, both proponents and opponents of this notion to eliminate soft money. Supporters of this reform argue that political parties become under the control of large contributors of soft money, many of which hope that their large contributions would pay off in the form of a policy decision or bill endorsement. Proponents advocate that this is detrimental to the democratic process, and that soft money contributions eliminate the power of the broad electorate. Nonetheless, there is a plethora of citizens who are against this proposal. Opponents argue that the first amendment to the Constitution grants them the freedom of speech, and that this proposal infringes on their rights to free speech and their ability to influence the electorate. Furthermore, just as some consider soft money contributions detrimental to the representative democracy of this country, others consider the banning of thus just as detrimental.
Additionally, another proposal put forth is the raising of limits on individual contributions. In 1974, the Federal Election Campaign Act set the limits of these individual contributions, commonly referred to as “hard money.” Individual contributions to a candidate are limited to $1,000 in the primary campaign and $1,000 in the general election. Moreover, individual contributions to a political action committee may not exceed $5,000 per year, and there is an aggregate limit of $25,000 to all federal candidates, parties, and PACs. The debate over this issue...