One of Last Federal Money Politics Limits Now Under Threat

The following is from an excerpt from the article by Alex Tausanovitch, the associate director of Democracy and Government Reform at the Center for American Progress,. Continue reading here: An Appropriations Bill Is Threatening to Make Politicians More Dependent on Big Donors

Instead of taking steps to fight political corruption, some in Congress are attempting to open a new avenue for wealthy donors to ingratiate themselves to political leaders. Currently, an individual can give no more than $2,700 per election to a candidate for federal office, but a little-noticed provision in a draft government funding bill—the fiscal year 2018 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill—could be the beginning of the end of these limits.

The $2,700 ceiling—$5,400 total, if one supports a candidate in both a primary and a general election—was imposed more than 40 years ago “to limit the actuality and appearance of corruption” that results from large donations to candidates for public office. This limit is one of the cornerstones of the Federal Election Campaign Act, a law strengthened in the wake of Watergate to protect against the money-in-politics scandals of the Nixon era.

The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan educational institute.