SCOTT BRADFOR
Even with strict laws in place, presidential front-runners Bob Dole and Bill Clinton are receiving and spending millions of dollars more on campaigning this election year than has ever before been spent.
According to Carren Crossley, a political science major who has been monitoring this year’s election expenditures, the Federal Elections Campaign Act was passed in 1974 which limited the amount of money a candidate could receive. Crossley said donations by individuals to a candidate were limited to $1,000, donations by Political Action Committees to $5,000 and total donations by a contributor to various campaign funds cannot exceed $25,000.
Crossley said these rules have plenty of loopholes and the candidates are jumping through them all.
In the Oct. 21 issue of Time, reporter Jeffrey Birnbaum said there are some big loopholes which are, in a round about way, filling candidate’s coffers. They include independent expenditures, soft money and foreign contributions.
Birnbaum said that independent expenditures, private issue campaigns launched by private groups, can push whatever they want to as long as they don’t say “vote for Mr. X.”
Birnbaum said examples of this include the Sierra Club, an environmental group, which has released a number of commercials blasting Republican and Democratic candidates who don’t have supporting views of the group.
Birnbaum said the Sierra Club has targeted 30 races in areas where legislators have allegedly ruined the ecosystems through laws they have passed. The Sierra Club often goes as far as to say, “Get Mr. X out of office,” but they never mention the candidates name they are supporting, thus keeping the ad from being called a type of contribution.
Birnbaum said the Republicans have benefited from this loophole immensely as lobbies such as the Christian Coalition and the National Rifle Association have spent more than $1 million on radio spots, billboards and voter guides handed out in churches and Wal-Mart parking lots. These actions have been accredited as a major factor in the Republican victories two years ago.
Crossley defined “soft money” as money donated to the political party in unlimited amounts, with an understanding as to where the money will end up. Crossley said some call it the old “wink and nod” program.
Washington Times reporter Michael Myers said the Dole campaign committee has already filed suit accusing Clinton of violating election laws as the Democratic National Committee has paid for $25 million in advertising for Clinton. The DNC defended its position by asserting that the ads focused on Republican proposals and never actually mentioned Clinton.
Debra Saunders, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter, said Dole has also benefited from this loophole, receiving more than $20 million worth of promotions from the National Republican Committee.
Crossley said foreign contributions can only be made by groups or individuals who earned the money in the U.S. Foreigners get around this law by going through residents and U.S.-based subsidiaries.Crossley said the presence of independent expenditures, soft money, and foreign contributions have given both major political parties twice as much money as was raised in 1992. Crossley said that, in fact, these questionable practices are what has caused this year’s election to be the most expensive in history.
