Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad:
Khaleej Times, Dubai, on the recent ruling by U.S. Supreme Court:
The latest ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, striking down “aggregate limits” relating to political campaign funding has led to a complete reversal of contribution laws, enacted in the aftermath of Watergate to prevent rich Americans from buying votes.
The Supreme Court in McCutcheon v Federal Election Commission struck down the overall limits on campaign contributions, though it did not touch the limit (of $2,600 per election) on individual contributions to Presidential or Congressional candidates.
Led by chief justice John Roberts and four other conservative judges, the court said the overall limits intrude on a citizen’s ability to exercise the most fundamental First Amendment activity. Justice Clarence Thomas, the most conservative member of the court, said he would have gone further and removed all restrictions on political contributions.
Critics have, however, slammed the judgment arguing that this would encourage political corruption on an unheard of scale. Justice Stephen Breyer, one of the four dissenting judges, warned that the ruling “eviscerates our nation’s campaign finance laws.” Campaign finance reforms were introduced in the US in the early 1970s following the Watergate scandal, to reduce the role of big money in elections.
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1972 required that candidates must disclose the source of contributions and campaign expenditures. Later, statutory limits were imposed on contributions and the FEC was established. Over the decades, laws relating to campaign funding have been tweaked with limits set on donations.
An individual cannot give more than $2,600 to any candidate in an election, which meant a maximum of $5,200 (for the primaries and general election). An aggregate limit for individual contributions of $48,600 was also fixed for donations to all candidates. A higher aggregate limit of $74,600 was set for contributions to national party committees or political action committees (PACs). The aggregate limit for all contributions was $123,200.
But the latest Supreme Court judgment renders this limit meaningless, as it removes the aggregate limit on donations to PACs. And while there are limits on how much a PAC can give to a candidate, no limits on the number of PACs exist. Unfortunately, the US Supreme Court has, in a series of judgments in recent years, diluted America’s tough laws relating to political contributions and preventing the influence of big money.
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