1. Campaign Finance

2. Review from Yesterday Where does campaign money come from for a Presidential Primary? Where does campaign money come from for a Presidential General Election? Where does campaign money come from for a Congressional election?

3. Campaign Financing Today, we will look at the rules and regulations regarding campaign financing and look at where the money comes from.

4. Campaign Financing Questions FECA- Federal Election Campaign Acts 1. Why did Congress address campaign finance in the 1970’s? Designed to set regulations in order to make government less corrupt following the Watergate scandal

5. Campaign Financing Questions FECA- 2. Why did the government require candidates to disclose contributions and expenditures? Trying to make everything transparent. This would allow them to see who is donating, who is supporting. Perception is everything (idea that everything is good)

6. Campaign Financing Questions FECA- 3. Why did the government want to limit the amount of money that candidates and their families could contribute to their own campaigns? Trying to level the playing field between candidates because wealthy candidates would have an advantage.

7. Campaign Financing Questions FECA- 4. Why did the government want to limit how much money individuals could contribute to someone else’s campaign? This limit is called hard money. Trying to avoid wealthy individuals having too much influence. Trying to decrease the influence of “Fat Cats” – They shouldn’t have undue influence.

8. Campaign Financing Questions FECA- 5. What is soft money? Was the use of soft money legal? Soft money allowed individuals to donate to parties instead of the candidates. Soft money was legal but not regulated.

9. Campaign Financing Questions McCain-Feingold- 1. What were the major goals of the McCain-Feingold bill? Designed to amend FECA in order to regulate other aspects of campaign finance. Try to ban soft money Decrease the amount of money spent Why do you think this was a bipartisan bill? Explain.

10. Campaign Financing Questions McCain-Feingold- 2. Which part of the bill do you think was most controversial? The ban on soft money was controversial – people should be allowed to spend their own money the way they see fit.

11. Campaign Financing Questions BCRA- 1. What were the major goals of BCRA? Eliminate soft money Close loopholes Decrease the amount of money spent

12. Campaign Financing Questions BCRA- 2. Which part of the law do you think was most controversial? Ban on soft money and restriction on when ads

13. Campaign Financing Questions BCRA- 3. Which party do you think you would gain from BCRA? Both parties can gain and lose

14. Campaign Financing Questions BCRA- 4. Which party do you think you would lose? Both parties can lose

15. Campaign Financing Questions BCRA- 5. Do you think BCRA was or will be the “last word” on campaign finance?