Wertheimer: “It’s Chief Justice Roberts who is “divorced from reality””
According to Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer:
As the enclosed POLITICO article makes clear, it is Chief Justice Roberts who is “divorced from reality,” not those of us who submitted briefs in the McCutcheon case to explain that donors would be giving huge contributions if the limits on the total contributions by an individual to all candidates and all party committees were struck down by the Supreme Court.
The examples set forth in briefs submitted by Democracy 21 and others to the Supreme Court showed that if the aggregate limits were struck down, six and seven figure individual checks could be solicited by federal officeholders and party officials, and given by individual donors, to support federal candidates and their parties.
These are precisely the kind of huge contributions from individuals that the Supreme Court said in the Buckley decision creates an inherently corrupt system.
Chief Justice Roberts gave the back of his hand to the examples of what could and would happen that were presented to the Court.
According to Chief Justice Roberts, the “scenarios” were either “illegal” or “divorced from reality” and were “foreclosed” by “experience and common sense.”
Yet, the Roberts “divorced from reality,” “scenarios” are precisely what is happening.
According to the POLITICO article, the RNC and Republican state parties in 13 Senate “battle ground” states will use a joint fundraising committee to solicit checks from donors for as much as $162,400 per individual contributor. This is more than double the limit struck down in the McCutcheon decision on the total amount an individual could give to party committees.
“Divorced from reality?” Or just cynical? Chief Justice Roberts appears to have been both.
POLITICO
GOP launches new big money effort
By: Byron Tau
Republicans are launching a fundraising effort that will let donors cut six-figure checks to support GOP Senate candidates this fall — a move that capitalizes on the Supreme Court’s landmark McCutcheon v. FEC decision.
Senate Republicans have filed paperwork to form the Targeted State Victory Committee — a joint fundraising effort between the National Republican Senatorial Committee and Republican state parties in 13 Senate battleground states.
In the McCutcheon decision, handed down in April, a divided Supreme Court struck down the aggregate limit on what a single donor could give to all federal candidates and parties — opening the door for new methods and tactics in the political fundraising space. Prior to the decision, donors were capped at $48,600 to candidate committees and $74,600 in contributions to PACs.
Federal law still limits how much donors can give to each individual candidate and party, but donors can give to as many candidates and parties as they would like. The decision effectively made teaming up to raise money more attractive and more lucrative.
Donors will be able to cut a check of up to $162,400 to the new Targeted State Victory Committee — with up to $32,400 going to the NRSC and up to $10,000 going to each of the state parties of Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Political parties at the local, state and federal level have steadily seen their power and influence decline since 2010 — when the Supreme Court and the Federal Election Commission opened the doors to unlimited spending by outside groups. State parties in particular have seen their donor base erode over the past 10 years — as rules put in place in 2002 have hurt their fundraising efforts.
Free-spending outside groups such as super PACs and nonprofits have come to dominate the airwaves and the ground game in key battleground states — supplanting the traditional role of parties.
But the new Targeted State Victory Committee gives Republican party leaders at both the state and national level a major big money fundraising tool — bringing some donor money back under the control of party leaders.
Republicans have moved quickly to embrace the new fundraising environment. The NRSC, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican National Committee also joined together to form a similar joint fundraising effort in April called the Republican Victory Fund.
Democrats have yet to form such a big money joint fundraising committee.
