It's Colbert!
That's the big "C" answer for today. But another one remains: after the Supreme Court's decision in McCutcheon allowed unlimited aggregate donations by individuals to federal candidates, what's next?
Venable political law group co-chairs Ron Jacobs and Larry Norton—a former FEC GC who helped implement McCain-Feingold—agree the courts are going to be busy: a lot of provisions in federal campaign finance laws are called into question. Things will be very active at the state level too, they say, which is often overlooked. It seems likely there will be a request for the Court to revisit the soft money ban from McCain-Feingold, limits on state parties spending funds in connection with federal elections, and probably some effort to overturn the ban on corporate contributions and federal contractor contributions.
Base limits may be more vulnerable than they were before this decision, Larry says, but that's not likely to be the next challenge. It's interesting to see where the Court goes with disclosure—Ron and Larry expect to see more cases challenging current disclosure rules. The Court has cited the transparency of political giving online as a restraint on corruption. But some point to potential negative effects of disclosure, such as boycotts and other forms of retribution.
