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Senate blocks 'soft money' bill
October 19, 1999 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate on Tuesday defeated another attempt to bring campaign finance legislation to a vote as the bill's supporters twice fell short of the 60 votes needed to break a Republican-led filibuster. The first vote was 52-48 -- eight shy of the 60 senators need to stop the filibuster -- on a motion to finish debate and consider a comprehensive reform bill that the House has already passed. The second vote was 53-47, seven votes shy. That vote turned back a slimmed-down bill that included a ban on so-called soft money that flows to political parties from unions, corporations and individuals in unlimited amounts. Soft-money donations were the focus of the 1996 presidential fund-raising scandal and the 2000 presidential election could possibly set new records for the amount of soft money contributions raised by the political parties. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wisconsin) had submitted that second measure for debate in hopes that could pick up support from Republicans who opposed the broader bill. After the votes, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) tried to end the filibuster by removing the bill from the floor. It appears he will be successful. McCain blamed the default defeat on lawmakers in both parties despite the GOP's filibuster. "The Democrats have tied us up, too, not just Republicans," he said. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the chief opponent of the legislation, said the measure would have destroyed the effectiveness of the national political parties. "There is no momentum for this kind of measure," he said. McCain said he would bring up the issue again, including its proposed ban on unlimited soft money donations courted by the political parties. The bill has been beaten back before by filibusters led by McConnell, who is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "We will not give up in the Senate and we will take our case to the people. Eventually, eventually, we will prevail," McCain said. McConnell was nonchalant about the possibility of political penalty. "I do not believe that this is the kind of an issue that is going to determine the outcome of elections," he said. Senators first voted on the comprehensive measure patterned along the lines of legislation the House passed earlier in the year to reduce the role of money in modern campaigns. That bill was pushed by Democrats. The second vote was set on a slimmed-down bill that McCain and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) had hoped would allow them to pick up enough support to escape a filibuster. "It appears we were mistaken. The opponents of comprehensive reform oppose even the most elemental reform and those opponents abide on both sides of the aisle," McCain said. On Monday, senators cast a roll call vote of 92-1 against soft money donations but that vote was only a symbolic one. McCain labeled it a "cynical one" in light of Tuesday's votes. McConnell called Monday's vote "meaningless" and the result of parliamentary maneuvering. Supporters of campaign finance reform say the proposed legislation, which bans soft money in federal elections, would have decrease the risk of influence peddling in politics. Detractors argue that both major parties could not operate without the large, often corporate donations, which go directly to the parties and are not subject to federal spending limits. "I am not accusing any member of violating federal bribery statutes but we are all tainted by a system that the public believes, rightly, results in greater representation to monied interests than to average citizens," McCain said. Soft money supporters argue that the unregulated donations are a necessity for both major parties, and that it would be difficult to convince Congress to reduce or eliminate them. McConnell said this was the 20th time the Senate has attempted to vote on this issue since 1987. Soft money is so important to the Democratic Party that the party could lose the presidential election next year without it, according to Democratic National Committee Chairman Ed Rendell. "If the Republicans passed McCain-Feingold, we would be shut down. And with (GOP presidential candidate George W.) Bush's ability to raise hard money (individual contributions), it would be over," Rendell, the mayor of Philadelphia, was quoted as saying in the Washington Post. Although McCain and Feingold hoped that their stripped-down bill would attract more supporters, Democrats pressed for more comprehensive reforms than the McCain-Feingold bill offers. McCain wrote President Bill Clinton, urging him to discourage Democrats from voting for alternatives to the McCain-Feingold bill. Some Republicans expressed doubt that the White House would help McCain. "Working with President Clinton on campaign finance reform is like working with Bonnie and Clyde on banking reform. I mean, this administration has been the biggest abuser of campaign finance," said Senate Majority Whip Don Nickles of Oklahoma, on "Face the Nation." But when the bill was defeated, the White House issued a statement from the president criticizing the Senate's action. "The failure of the Senate to adopt real reform is a victory for the politics of cynicism, and it leaves unchecked the influence of moneyed special interests," Clinton said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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MORE STORIES:Tuesday, October 19, 1999
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