Paying for Election Campaigns

“There are four parts to any campaign: The candidate, the issues…, the campaign organization, and the money. Without money you can forget the other three.” -- The late Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill

Financing a Campaign Most campaign funding comes from private sources–individuals, party organizations, and corporations, plus a wide variety of interest groups.

Individuals may give… $2,700 per campaign $33,400 to national party committee (per year) $10,000 to state/local party (combined) $5,000 per PAC

National Party Committee may give… $5,000 to each candidate $5,000 to each PAC No limit to state/local parties or to themselves

Political Action Committees (PAC) may give…. $5,000 per campaign $15,000 to National Committee $5,000 to state/local party No special limits

Some worry that candidates feel they owe special favors to the those who contributed to their campaigns You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours...

Presidential Election Campaign Fund – taxpayers can contribute $3 by checking a box on their tax form (Fewer than 6% of taxpayers contributed in 2014)

Candidates qualify for these federal funds if they raise $100,000 on their own ($5,000 each in at least 20 states)

If they agree to use these funds, they must limit the spending of their own money

Sen. Obama, when he ran for president in 2008, did not accept federal funds because he raised so much money and did not want to limit how much he could spend John McCain in 2008 was the most recent candidate to accept public funding.

Why is this important? Some people feel that by allowing large amounts of private funding, candidates listen more to the rich than the average American when it comes to positions and promises. Public funding and limits would reduce that.

The Supreme Court has ruled that limiting how much candidates could spend on their own campaigns was a violation of free speech

The controversial Supreme Court case involving campaign spending is called the Citizens United case

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 2010 The Supreme Court ruled (5 to 4) that the First Amendment prohibited the government from restricting political independent spending by corporations, associations, or labor unions.

That means that independent groups can spend whatever they want on campaigns, (no spending limits) After 2010, groups (called Super PACs) formed to spend money during elections to support or defeat candidates https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000003778583/the-age-of-super-pacs.html

What effect did Super PACs have on the 2012 election. http://elections

So, can you afford to run for president? What about Congress?

So how much does it cost to win election to Congress So how much does it cost to win election to Congress? Assuming members of Congress spent 40 hours a week focusing on finding funds: (1) House members must raise, on average, $367 an hour (2) Senators must come up with $819 an hour.

So who owns Congress. http://www. motherjones

Let’s go back to Political Action Committees (PACs)

Political Action Committees (PACs) – political organizations established by corporations, labor unions, and other special-interest groups to support candidates who favor their position on issues by contributing money to their parties

Political parties can raise an unlimited amount of money, but they are supposed to use it for general expenses

Critics argue that wealthy donors may receive special favors not available to average citizens