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• Campaign Finance Reform is a blanket term referring to all efforts to lessen the influence of money and financiers on the electoral system. While regulation of campaign finance dates back to the inception of the electoral process, Congress made a commitment to reform in 1971 when it passed the Federal Election Campaign Act. The legislation created the Federal Election Commission, a central enforcement agency that forces campaigns to provide broad disclosure of campaign finance.

  
  In October of 2008, Good Magazine posted a feature on their website parodying the campaign contributions of Barack Obama and John McCain. The two then-candidates were drawn wearing NASCAR-style uniforms, brandishing their respective campaign contributions with garish patches on their clothes. For example, Barack Obama wore a Google patch, and John McCain wore a Bear Stearns patch.

• Fast Facts

  1. 1867: First campaign finance law
  2. 1907: Tillman Act prohibits direct financing from interstate banks
  3. 1971: Federal Election Campaign Act Passed
  4. 1974: Federal Election Commission Established
  5. 2002: Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

• McCain-Feingold Law

  In 2002, Congress passed the McCain-Feingold Act to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act. Sponsored by Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold, the law prohibited the raising of any funds not subject to the federal limits.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  The House of Representatives | The U.S. Senate | Election 2008 | John McCain | Russ Feingold

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