; it is almost handed to as a gift. For example they will buy commercials, magazine and newspaper space, that is not cheap, to promote the politician or the party they want to win and slander the one they want to lose. The McCain-Feingold bill would ban soft money to parties and extend federal regulations to money raised by independent groups for campaign ads two months before election (New York Times September 15,1999). The argument or discussion that was raised by the corporations and unions that were given this soft money was how could the government tell people what to do with their money. Forty-five Democrats and seven Republicans voted for the bill but it was killed by a filibuster (New York Times September 15,1999). A filibuster is when someone stands up and speaks about a bill that they dont want passed, this person keeps talking for hours or until the bill they dont want is dead (Janda/Berry/Goldman p. 213). Engineering this filibuster was the only way to break this majority of 52. A majority of 60 votes is required to stop a filibuster and pass the bill but that didnt happen (New York Times September 16,1999). Campaign finance reform has become one of the hot-button issues of campaign 2000 (Boston Herald, September 1999). Most groups are for reform but interest groups and lawmakers that benefit are against reform. Some argue that this ban on soft money is wrong and it violates our First Amendment to freedom of speech (Resource guide; pg.40). Congress tried to pass limits on federal campaign contributions and public funding, in Buckley v. Valeo in 1976, the Supreme Court struck down the limits on citizen expenses as an infringement on the first amendment (Janda/Berry/Goldman pg. 165). The other hand says that soft money is just a form of legalized bribery (New York Times September 16,1999). Gov. George E. Pataki and New York State Republican Committee raised $6 million in campaign contributions this year (New York ...
