Too Rich for Everyone’s Blood : Times analysis shows campaign limits are often ignored by the wealthy

The $25,000 annual limit on federal campaign contributions set by Congress in the wake of the Watergate scandals of the 1970s is being widely --and in many cases, apparently, deliberately--flouted. That’s the unmistakable conclusion to be drawn from a computer-assisted analysis of federal election records made by The Times for the two years leading up to last year’s elections.

In at least one of those two years the contribution ceiling was exceeded by 109 or more donors. Seven of those donors made contributions in excess of $50,000 last year; none, so far as can be learned, has yet to be called to account by the Federal Election Commission. The contribution law is not just being ignored and evaded, it’s being mocked. And when scofflaws are detected and punished, the fines levied against them seem to be more in the category of an annoyance than a deterrent. In March, the FEC announced fines against 10 wealthy donors that averaged a little more than $6,000 each. Not a sum calculated to cause millionaires much pain.

Some violations of the campaign contribution law may occur out of ignorance or absent-mindedness. Maybe. Some contributors--or so they say--don’t bother keeping a running tally of the contributions they make to political campaigns. We all know how it is: a thousand here, five thousand there and pretty soon--surprise!--you can be up to 30 or 40 or 50 thousand in contributions without even thinking about it. Other contributors say they were unaware of, or didn’t understand, the law. Surely, though, the big-bucks donors who break the law must have accountants or lawyers whose job it is to keep them aware of what the rules require.

Why hasn’t the FEC more vigorously chased contribution law violators? A big reason seems to be that until now its investigative arm has been disgracefully underfunded. Each full investigation costs $15,000, and the FEC’s budget allows for precious few of those. Such economics make the FEC’s enforcement authority a hollow threat. The chances of being caught breaking the law on federal contributions are slight. The chances of being meaningfully punished are almost nil.

A government that can’t or won’t enforce its own laws invites the distrust and contempt of the people it exists to serve. Campaign finance regulations are on the books to try to keep the electoral system from being corrupted by those who are able to buy influence and recognition. Something stronger than token fines are needed to keep these regulations from being broken--in some cases repeatedly by the same individuals. A few carefully prepared and aggressively pursued criminal prosecutions by the Justice Department, as provided for in existing law, could prove to be just the disincentive needed.