On March 27, 2002, President Bush quietly signed campaign finance reform legislation that imposes significant restrictions on the way candidates and political parties raise money. The most noteworthy aspect of the bill is that it severely restricts unlimited "soft money" donations to political parties. It also prohibits outside groups from broadcasting commercials mentioning candidates for federal office during periods immediately before primaries and general elections. The bill does, however, double the amount an individual can donate to a candidate from $1,000 to $2,000. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has diligently pursued campaign finance reform for the past several years, cosponsored the bill. McCain did not attend the bill signing, and White House staffers considered his absence a major snub. Opponents wasted no time challenging the bill in court. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the National Rifle Association led the charge to overturn the legislation, filing separate lawsuits in federal court stating that the bill restricts freedom of speech.
Follow the money trail by tracking who funds the candidates and initiatives.
Federal Election
Commission
You can obtain electronic images of contribution reports from
the official FEC page.
www.fec.gov
FECinfo
FECinfo takes the Federal Election Commission’s data and
offers it in a downloadable format. Sign up for their alerts to stay on top of
filing deadlines and new data releases.
www.tray.com
Center for
Responsive Politics
CRP’s site allows you to search for candidates or donors
by name to obtain profiles of top contributors. You can also sort contributors
by location and industry. Under Get Local,
enter your zip code for a list of who’s giving in your town.
www.opensecrets.org
Common Cause
Soft Money Laundromat
Another site that uses FEC information to create a searchable
database of campaign donations, particularly of “soft money” (contributions
from corporations, unions, and other organizations).
www.commoncause.org/laundromat
National Institute
on Money in State Politics
State-level campaign finance data.
www.followthemoney.org
Campaign Finance
Information Center
This project of the Investigative Reporters and Editors organization
provides information and links to what campaign finance data is available in each
state.
www.campaignfinance.org
Center for
Public Integrity
Find out which interest groups are heavily involved in elections.
The Issue Ad Watch
lists the activities of Section 527 groups involved in the 2000 elections.
www.publici.org
Annenberg Public
Policy Center
Contains profiles of advocacy organizations that aired broadcast
issue advertisements since January 1, 1999; a running estimate of the amount of
money spent on issue advocacy advertising since the beginning of 1999; a primer
on issue ads; and a list of issues and the groups that have advertised on those
topics.
www.appcpenn.org/issueads/
National Lobbyist
Directory
Designed to complement and enhance the efforts of state legislatures
to help identify the people who attempt to influence state public policy decisions.
www.lobbyistdirectory.com
Hoover Institution
For an overview of the campaign finance reform debate, go to
this site. It includes the history of campaign finance reform as well as pertinent
Supreme Court cases. The site offers many essays, articles and opinion pieces
culled from recent debates.
www.campaignfinancesite.org
Brookings Institute
This think tank has also assembled a Web site on campaign finance
reform, including documents on both history and current developments. Sign up
on their e-mail list for releases pertaining to the campaign finance debate.
www.brookings.org
Reporter’s
Reference Center on Campaign Finance Reform
The Benton Foundation's Richard Neustadt Center for Communications
in the Public Interest sponsors this site, which includes both a national overview
and individual state analyses of campaign finance reform issues, organized according
to current legal framework, proposed reforms and contact information.
www.benton.org
Common Cause
This nonprofit, advocacy organization states its mission as "holding
power accountable." Take a look at On
Deadline: A Reporter's Guide to Money in Politics Campaign 2000, which
includes background information on campaign finance structure and proposed reforms.
For more detailed information on current representatives, try the Soft
Money Laundromat, Washington
Watchdog, or Know
your Congress, all of which provide specific facts and figures.
www.commoncause.org
Association
of Community Organizations for Reform Now
Campaign Reform
Project
Destination
Democracy
Public Campaign
U.S. Public
Interest Research Group
Center for
Voting and Democracy
National Voting
Rights Institute