Just Say ‘Not for Sale’

They call it “soft money,” as if it is something benign or cuddly. In fact, this form of unlimited giving to national political committees corrupts every power center in Washington and threatens to destroy whatever confidence the public still may have in our electoral system.

Federal law allows individuals and groups to give without limit to the political parties to finance party-building activities such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives. But the law has been twisted to the point that massive amounts of soft money are channeled instead into the presidential campaigns in a way that was never intended by Congress.

Soft money was at the core of the campaign finance scandals of 1996, and the parties continue to pursue these contributions with gluttonous fury. Committees raked in more than $55 million in soft money in the first half of 1999, an increase of 80% over the corresponding period four years ago.

This week, the U.S. Senate has a chance to end this reckless shakedown by passing a reform bill (S. 1593) sponsored by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.) to ban soft-money contributions.

The House passed a similar bill in September. The people want reform. McCain-Feingold supporters include former presidents from both parties and virtually all the current candidates for the White House.

They were joined this summer by business leaders who belong to the Committee for Economic Development, corporate heads who are tired of being hustled for campaign cash. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) responded with a caustic letter urging members to quit the committee and charging that McCain wants to “eviscerate private-sector participation in politics.” The letter so angered the businesspeople they recruited at least 30 new members to the cause.

A majority of the 100 senators support the bill, but its only reasonable chance of passing will be if Senate leaders allow a fair up-or-down vote. Last year the opponents filibustered the measure to death, and they are threatening to do the same this year. The four-year struggle for reform comes down to this vote.

The Senate has an opportunity to write a new profile in courage by passing McCain-Feingold. To defeat the bill is to admit to a rightly skeptical and cynical public that its worst fears are true: Our government truly is up for sale.