With 12 flowered cots waiting in the basement of the Capitol for the weary, the Senate on Monday began debating campaign finance legislation that could permanently change the way politicians run for federal office.
Despite the threat of a filibuster from Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), this week’s debate is likely to be the last congressional stop for the legislation that would ban unlimited soft money donations to political parties from wealthy individuals, corporations and unions.
“It’s time to get the job done, it’s time to get this bill to the president,” urged Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), one of the chief sponsors with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “I believe the Senate is ready to repair a broken system.”
McCain and Feingold say they have the 60 votes necessary to quash the expected filibuster and move the bill to the president’s desk.
The Senate passed this bill a year ago, 59-41. It was amended and passed overwhelmingly in the House on Feb. 14, and now the Senate must sign off on the measure one more time before sending it to President Bush.
Over the past several months, Bush has sent mixed signals about whether he would sign the legislation. White House officials have said he would sign a bill that would improve the system, but they have not said whether the president believes this bill would do so.
The president also has told lawmakers that as they debate the issue, they should not count on him to veto the measure.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the bill’s leading foe for much of the last decade, has indicated he expects the legislation to become law and will turn his attention to fighting it in court.
Privately, Senate Republican leadership aides have said that while Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) got a good photo opportunity from the cots’ delivery Friday, he probably won’t need to use them.
Senate Republicans say if campaign finance advocates are able to muster 60 votes Wednesday, they are unlikely to keep the Senate in session around the clock Wednesday night. A vote on final passage is expected Thursday morning.
The legislation would prohibit the national parties from raising unlimited soft money donations from unions, corporations and individuals after Nov. 6 this year. The bill also would bar the use of corporate and union treasury money for television and radio ads that mention a candidate for federal office within 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary.
The so-called hard money limits placed on individual contributions to candidates would be doubled from $1,000 to $2,000 per election. In addition, candidates facing wealthy, self-funded opponents would be given the right to collect triple the amount of hard money donations per person.
McCain and Feingold in the Senate and Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) and Martin Meehan (D-Mass.) in the House have long argued that lawmakers are tainted when they ask special interest groups to contribute money to their parties. Those requests, they have said, make it difficult for lawmakers to consider public policy matters fairly when firms or unions they have solicited are involved.
Their opponents, on the other hand, say the McCain-Feingold approach would gut political parties, curb free speech and increase bureaucracy. They have taken umbrage at the notion that the system has corrupted them.
Congress has not changed the rules governing the way campaigns are run and candidates raise money since the Watergate scandal of the 1970s.
Since then, unregulated donations to the national parties have mushroomed, financing huge advertising campaigns as well as traditional get-out-the-vote efforts. For example, the parties raised nearly $500 million in the 2000 election, compared to $86 million in the 1992 presidential campaign.
