Campaign Finance Reform

The movement to reform campaign finance traces its origins to the Watergate scandal. The way that Richard Nixon's campaign raised money, and the way that Nixon spent that money to harass and undermine opponents, prompted calls for change. Nixon actually signed into law the first campaign finance measureùthe Federal Election and Campaign Act (FECA)ùin 1972 (Utter and Strickland, 54).

That law had no teeth until Congress amended it in 1974, in the wake of Nixon's resignation and revelations about his administration's abuse of the campaign system. The amendments established spending limits for candidates and contribution limits for donors. The amendments also created t

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ways be deadlocked. Meanwhile, the FEC's budget and authority have declined, thanks to Congress and the courts (Washington Post). One commentator concluded that the post-Watergate changes to election funding law had only ôbrought in a kind of moral corruption that has been made quite legalö (Gross, 39). The laws have proven so full of loopholes that they are easy to evade. For example, individuals can donate $1,000 for the primary and $1,000 for the general election. That applies to each member of the family, so a husband and wife with four kids could donate $12,000 to a candidate in one year. That also applies to PACs, so a family of six could send $30,000 to a PAC, not to mention all of the soft money they could give to a party. Individuals could spend an unlimited amount on behalf of a candidate so long as the money does not go through the candidate or the party. As one can see, even the most minor restrictions on campaigns are virtually useless (Gross, 44-45). Congress has largely remained silent on the issue since the 1979 changes. Though many members and voters have called for reform, Congress deflects such clamor by claiming any attempts will be unconstitutional in light of Buckley v. Valeo. The excesses of the 199
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Approximate Word count = 3710
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page)

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