Election Panel Seeks Alternatives to Outright Ban on ‘Soft Money’
The Federal Election Commission sent a proposal to eliminate “soft money” back to its legal department Thursday, raising questions about the government’s authority to ban such political donations,
The five-member commission told the lawyers to come up with alternatives to an outright ban.
Soft money--unlimited donations by corporations, unions and wealthy donors--is supposed to be used for party-building activities but not to support federal candidates.
“I have no intention of dumping this whole thing,” said Joan Aikens, the commission’s chairwoman and a Republican. “But . . . I don’t think we have the authority to totally ban the national committees from raising soft money.”
Republicans and Democrats raised a record $262 million in soft money during the last election.
Both parties used the funds to pay for TV ads that benefited their congressional and presidential candidates but stopped short of actually telling viewers to vote for or against specific candidates. The parties also funneled millions to state and local party organizations that, in some cases, used the money to benefit federal candidates.
President Clinton and several members of Congress asked the FEC to rule out soft money.
But Commissioner Lee Ann Elliott, a Republican, said Congress should decide whether to ban it.
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