Two groups oppose soliciting for Super PAC scheme

By Bill Allison Jun 07 2011 3:24 p.m.

Bob Kerrey and Warren Rudman, two former U.S. Senators who are now co-chairs of Americans for Campaign Reform, gave testimony almost a decade ago documenting how raising big soft money donations to political parties had a corrupting effect on lawmakers. The see a similar corrupting effect should the Federal Election Commission rule that federal candidates and party officials can raise unlimited contributions from any source for Super PACs. The Campaign Legal Center agrees, arguing that candidates for federal office and party committee officials are barred from raising funds not subject to the limits of the Federal Election Campaign Act.

Both Americans for Campaign Reform and the Campaign Legal Center have weighed in against the fundraising plans of the Republican Super PAC, an organization co-founded by Citizens United attorney James Bopp Jr. that aims to enlist GOP politicians and party officials to direct donors to it.

Perkins Coie, a firm that represents both Democratic Super PACs, the Democratic National Committee and President Barack Obama's reelection campaign, asked the FEC whether a 2002 ban on politicians raising soft money for party committees would prevent them raising money for Super PACs.

Search the Blog

Real Time Ticker

Committee Summary (FEC): KELLEY FOR CONGRESS

Reporting we're watching

Popular tags

2012 election 2012 elections 2013 Inauguration Ad Ad Hawk Ad Hoc AIG american crossroads Arab Spring Barack Obama BP budget Campaign contributions Campaign Finance Center for Responsive Politics Citizens United consumer banking Contracting Conventions2012 Correspondence crossroads GPS dark money Data Mine datamine debt ceiling Disclose act Distributed Research Dodd-Frank Earmarks Election 2012 Elizabeth Warren FARA FCC FDA FEC Federal Election Commission Fellows Finance Data Catalog Financial Bailout Financial Reform FLIT FOIA follow the unlimited money Foreign lobbying Foreign Lobbying Influence Tracker freshmen Fundraising Guns Handy Tools health care Hoc House House Freshmen 112th House Majority PAC Immigration Independent Expenditure Independent expenditures influence Influence Explorer investment James Bopp Jr. Lobbying lobbying tracker Logs_6553 Majority PAC Mark Sanford Market Meltdown Media Medicare meeting logs Mitt Romney National Rifle Association Newt Gingrich nonprofits NRA obama OGD Open Government Directive Orrin Hatch outside spending Party Time PMA Group political ad sleuth Political Party Time Politwoops President Obama Priorities USA Action Recovery Recovery.gov Rep. John Murtha Research Restore Our Future revolving door Rick Perry Rick Santorum Romney Ron Paul Sen. Christopher Dodd Senate Sheldon Adelson states of transparency Stealthy Wealthy stimulus Sunlight Live super committee super congress Super PAC super PAC profile Super PACs supercommittee Supercongress supreme court TARP Taxpayers for Common Sense transparency

Sunlight Foundation

The Site may contain links to Internet sites that are not operated by Sunlight Foundation. These links are provided as a service and do not imply any endorsement of the activities or content of these sites, nor any association with their operators. Sunlight Foundation does not control these Internet sites and is not responsible for their content, security, or privacy practices. We urge you to review the privacy policy posted on web sites you visit before using the site or providing personal information.

Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group