There’s an awfully big pile of kindling accumulating. I wonder when a spark will ignite it?
WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) warned Thursday that a coming Supreme Court case that could ultimately eliminate certain campaign contribution limits is a “clear danger” that threatens to expand the influence of large and wealthy corporations on elections.
The case — McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, set to be argued on Oct. 8 — challenges the aggregate limit on campaign contributions that an individual donor can make in a single election. Currently, a donor may only give $123,300 in total, made up of sub-limits of $48,600 to candidates and $74,600 to party committees and PACs.
The plaintiff, Alabama businessman Shaun McCutcheon, hopes that the court will eliminate these limits, arguing earlier this year that the issue is “a very important First Amendment case about freedom of speech.”
On Thursday, speaking at an event held by the Constitutional Accountability Center, Warren argued, “If the court continues in the direction of Citizens United, we may move another step closer to neutering Congress’ ability to limit the influence of money in politics and another step closer to unlimited corporate contributions given directly to candidates and political committees.”
