 | A Constitutional Amendment To Regulate Campaign Cash? |
For the two strongest political parties in the 2008 presidential election, the amount of money received in campaign donations has skyrocketed to previously unimagined levels. At the same time, the American economy has gone into crisis, with increasing numbers of Americans losing their jobs, employers closing up shop, homes being foreclosed, and prices of necessary items like food and fuel undergoing severe inflation. Am I the only one who finds this combination of financial trends to be suspicious?
Nine months ago, an odd collection of senators: Charles Schumer, Arlen Specter, Thad Cochran and Tom Harkin, introduced S.J.RES.21, a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States that would make campaign finance regulations unambiguously constitutional.
The main text of the proposed amendment reads:
Section 1. Congress shall have power to regulate the raising and spending of money, including through setting limits, for campaigns for nomination for election to, or for election to, Federal office.
Section 2. A State shall have power to regulate the raising and spending of money, including through setting limits, for–
(1) State or local ballot initiatives, referenda, plebiscites, or other similar ballot measures; and
(2) campaigns for nomination for election to, or for election to, State or local office.
This proposed amendment was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it has received practically no attention since. The four senators who introduced the resolution seem to have been unsuccessful in convincing anyone else in the Senate to join their effort. Perhaps they never intended for their proposal to gain support. Perhaps they were just trying to make a rhetorical point.
Should this proposed constitutional amendment go forward? Should the constitution establish the power of Congress and state governments to regulate campaign donations and campaign spending, or should campaign donations be completely unregulated, under the idea that sending someone money is a form of free speech?
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