CC pushes for action on campaign reform bills - Common Cause; campaign finance restrictions - includes related notice of headquarters move to 1250 Connecticut Ave NW - Cover Story

Common Cause Magazine, Spring-Summer, 1996

Common Cause's nationwide grassroots campaign to press for action on S. 1219 and H.R. 2566, the first bipartisan and bicameral campaign finance reform bills, has helped push the fight for reform into the national spotlight.

In the Senate, S. 1219 co sponsord Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russell Fein gold (D-Wis.) announced in April that they planned to attach the campaign finance legislation to other pending Senate bills in May, since Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-Kan.) has failed to schedule a date for action on reform legislation.

In the House, Reps. Linda Smith (R-Wash.), Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) and Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) have launched a discharge petition campaign that would force action on campaign finance reform legislation if the petition is signed by a majority of representatives. Dozens of representatives already have signed onto the discharge petition. (See Alert," page 39.)

CC continues its intense public and grassroots campaign for immediate action on reform, warning that reform opponents are using delaying tactics in their efforts to hold the issue over until late summer, when election-year activities would likely kill reform for the year.

To push the reform battle onto the political front burner, CC, joining with cosponsors of the reform legislation, Ross Perot and his group United We Stand America, Public Citizen, and the League of Women Voters, has taken part in a series of national town meetings on campaign finance reform. CC President Ann McBride urged thousands of citizens to play an active role in the fight for reform during major events in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Concord, Mass.; Baltimore; Scattle; and Milwaukee. CC also participated in events in Clearwater, Fla., and Nashville.

In February, McBride and CC Chairman Emeritus Archibald Cox testified before Congress in support of the bipartisan reform legislation.

"The bipartisan campaign finance bill is the test of whether members of Congress support fundamental change in the corrupt system in Washington," McBride testified.

The influence Money Scandal in Action

New Common Cause studies show how Washington's influence money culture works: Big-money special interests and their political contributions are gaining powerful access and influence in government decision-making:

* "Smoke & Mirrors": As the tobacco industry came under increasing fire, it dramatically increased its political giving in 1995, giving a record $4.1 million in PAC and soft money, according to a CC study released in conjunction with a nationwide campaign by the Coalition for Tobacco Free Kids. Since 1986, the study revealed, the tobacco industry has poured more than $20 million into Washington, a strategy that has helped it gain favorable treatment in Congress. Eighty-two percent of current congress members have accepted tobacco PAC contributions during the past decade.

* "The Magic Bullet": Representatives who voted to repeal the assault weapons ban in March received, on average, 21 times more in PAC support from the National Rifle Association (NRA) during the past decade than members who voted against the repeal, according to a CC analysis of NRA political money. Since 1986, the NRA has given $3.3 million in financial support to the 239 representatives who voted to repeal the ban. In 1995, 14 of the top 17 House recipients of NRA financial support were freshmen.

* "New Kids On The Auction Block": House freshmen have quickly learned the Capitol's influence money ways. During 1995 alone, according to CC, they raised more than $24 million for their reelection campaigns, bringing in, on average, $282,410 each. Of that total, nearly $10 million--40 percent of their funds--came from PACs. More than half of the freshman House members raised $100,000 or more from PACS during 1995.

Corporate Welfare

In March, McBride testified before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in support of S. 1376, the McCain-Feingold legislation that would provide a mechanism for closing down taxpayer funded corporate welfare programs.

"Americans rightly distrust a government that is not fair, that gives special access and influence to powerful interests," McBride said. "Congress's failure to address the problem of corporate welfare can only lead to further erosion of its standing with the American people."

Among the corporate welfare programs cited by CC: a controversial tax subsidy to ethanol manufacturers that costs taxpayers more than $3 billion over five years; mining industry subsidies that cost taxpayers $300 million a year; subsidies to the tobacco industry and commercial shippers; and a multimillion-dollar program that helps McDonald's, Sunkist and others advertise overseas.

CC is preparing studies that examine corporate welfare.

Other CC News

* In April, CC and Public Citizen filed a joint amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission, which is testing the constitutionality of limits on coordinated expenditures made by political parties in federal elections. These party limits, CC argued, are necessary to prevent another way for wealthy contributors to evade contribution limits by funneling large amounts of money to candidates through the parties.