Whoops! Bye-Bye McCain-Feingold. Didn't see THAT coming.

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Spending deal would allow wealthy donors to dramatically increase giving to national parties
By Matea Gold
December 9, 2014

The end-of-year spending bill deal crafted by congressional leaders Tuesday would dramatically expand the amount of money that wealthy political donors could inject into the national parties, drastically undercutting the 2002 landmark McCain-Feingold campaign finance overhaul.

The language – inserted on page 1,599 of the 1,603-page bill – would allow individuals to give three times the annual cap on national party donations to three additional party committees set up for the purposes of the presidential conventions, building expenses and election recounts.

That means that a donor who gave the maximum $32,400 this year to the Democratic National Committee or Republican National Committee would be able to donate another $291,600 on top of that to the party’s additional arms -- a total of $324,000, ten times the current limit.

In a two-year election cycle, a couple could give $1,296,000 to a party's various accounts.

Advocates for lessening the impact of big money on politics reacted with dismay, saying the move would effectively gut contribution limits.

"This makes the Great Train Robbery look like a petty misdemeanor," said Fred Wertheimer, president of the advocacy group Democracy 21. "These provisions have never been considered by the House or Senate, and were never even publicly mentioned before today.

"Republican and Democratic congressional leaders have entered into a Faustian bargain to return the massive corrupting contributions raised by federal officeholders for the national parties that Congress banned in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002," he added.

Adam Smith, spokesman for the group Every Voice, said in a statement, “Very few people can write checks almost twice the size of the country’s median income, but that’s what this provision will allow.

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