Campaign Finance—Washington Post Article (1998) questions
Overview
1. What is the average cost of winning a seat in Congress (as of 1996)?
2. Where does it seem most candidates spend their money campaigning?
The Issues:
3. What is the difference between what is being sold “ideally” and “realistically” where campaigning is concerned?
4. What is the one thing people and interests have in common with regards to campaigns?
5. How do the Republicans view strict spending limits on campaigns?
Past Reforms:
6. What prompted a restructuring and tightening in campaign finance laws?
7. FECA (1974) established some new guidelines where campaign funding was concerned. What were they?
8. How are tax dollars contributed to an eligible primary candidate?
9. What parts of Buckley v. Valeo were struck down and why?
Soft Money
10. Name 2 ways in which the major parties used loop holes in soft money campaigning.
11. Political Action Committees and interest groups were able to spend exorbitant amounts of money for political purposes without having to report it. What loophole did they use?
12. Name 2 ways in which donors were rewarded by Clinton, as in the case of Nixon.
Legislation:
13. How do Democrats and Republicans feel about soft money limits and spending?
14. What did the 2 bill proposals promise?
15. How did Democrats and Republicans respond to the proposal?