3 Ex-Presidents Urge Ban on ‘Soft Money’

Three former presidents, including two Republicans, on Thursday urged the GOP-controlled Congress to ban from U.S. elections all “soft money,” the term for vast but unregulated contributions to the political parties.

Such donations--made mostly by big business to Republicans and by big labor to Democrats--totaled more than $260 million last year, and they are now at the center of congressional investigations into campaign fund-raising abuses.

Although efforts to reform the federal campaign-finance system still face formidable opposition, the call to ban soft money by Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter and George Bush is just the latest sign that the movement is developing some momentum.

Last week, a bipartisan group of House freshmen, defying their leaders, proposed their own legislation calling for a soft-money ban. Earlier this year, President Clinton called for such a ban, as did former Vice President Walter F. Mondale and ex-Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker (R-Kan.), who were asked by Clinton to help drum up public support for campaign-finance reform.

In separate letters to Mondale and Baker, the former presidents each made a strong pitch for campaign-finance reform.

Ford said the current system “is in serious trouble,” adding that only reform would “restore the confidence of our citizens in their federal government.”

Carter called for the “prompt and fundamental repair” of election laws, saying “the future of democracy” is at stake.

Bush echoed the concern of some GOP lawmakers that a soft-money ban must be applied to big labor as well as to corporations and individuals.

Many of the 70-odd proposals pending in Congress to change campaign-financing laws also would ban soft money.

The increasing attacks on such donations reflect a growing belief among many reformers that a ban on soft money could be a doable first step, whereas broad, systemic reform may be out of reach.

Behind the scenes in Congress, meanwhile, reform proponents are stepping up pressure on party leaders to schedule debates on the issue in September.

“It’s absolutely clear there is momentum building to ban soft money,” said Ann McBride, president of Common Cause. “Of course, we’d like more. But ending soft money would be a major, major step forward in this Congress.”

She said soft-money contributions have increased at an alarming pace--growing from $87 million in 1992 to $263 million in 1996. Unlike contributions to candidates, which are limited under federal law, donations to political parties--made ostensibly for “party-building” purposes but often funneled to candidates--are not restricted.

Referring to the ongoing hearings by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, McBride added, “It’s quite clear, as the hearings have unfolded, that virtually every part of the scandal in the 1996 election arose from soft money.”

In an interview, Senate Assistant Majority Leader Don Nickles (R-Okla.), who has until now opposed campaign-finance reform, suggested Thursday that he is somewhat open to a soft-money ban. “I think there’s some interest in doing this,” he said. “But we’d have to make sure that [the ban] reaches organized labor money as well.”

Nickles added that any restrictions on soft money “probably” should be offset by increasing the allowable contribution limits to campaigns.

But Ellen S. Miller, head of Public Campaign, which advocates taxpayer funding of elections, said an increase in such contribution limits, even if accompanied by a soft-money ban, would represent “one step forward and two steps back.”

Many proposals that would ban soft money also seek to impose stricter disclosure requirements on candidates and “issue-advocacy” groups.

In the Senate, the co-author of a leading bipartisan proposal, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), said this week he might be willing to settle for a less sweeping bill--if it included a soft-money ban and full disclosure requirements.

In the House, Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) said Thursday that he and 25 Democratic colleagues are prepared to begin tying up the House in procedural knots in September unless Republicans allow debate on legislation to ban soft money.

“We will do everything in our power . . . to force the consideration of this issue, even at the expense of consideration of other matters,” Miller said in a letter to House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).