Appeals Court affirms decision on FEC rules
AP reports: An appeals court agreed on Friday that federal election regulators wrongly opened several loopholes in a 2002 campaign finance law that had been designed to take big contributions out of Congressional and presidential elections.
In a 2-to-1 decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a ruling last year by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of Federal District Court here. Judge Kollar-Kotelly struck down more than a dozen Federal Election Commission regulations interpreting the 2002 campaign finance law and ordered the commission to write tougher rules.
The cornerstone of the 2002 law is a ban on the raising of soft money - corporate and union contributions in any amount and unlimited donations from any source - by national party committees, the president, vice president, members of Congress and candidates for federal office. The law, which broadly bars the use of soft money in federal elections, was intended to rid federal elections of special-interest contributions that had ballooned into six- and seven-figure checks. -- Appeals Court Upholds Ruling on Campaign Finance Rules - New York Times