In 1974 the Federal Campaign Act Amendments were passed. This legislation also formed the Federal Election Commission, which is charged with collecting campaign finance data and some enforcement duties, among other responsibilities. No significant campaign finance changes at the national level have been implemented since the late 1970's. In the last decade it has been clear that the regulatory system set by congress in the 1970's is failing to achieve it's ends. This outlandish spending goes through all levels of elections. There must be a change to this horrible trend and instill confidence back in the electoral process. .
While this system needs reform, we cannot take away our civil liberties given to us by the First Amendment, because this is one of the cornerstones of our political system. There are four major problems with the current system that challenge the principles of our government. .
1) Money and fundraising have become too important and demanding in our political system. .
2) The high cost of campaigns and the burden of fundraising have reduced competition and the pool of qualified candidates in federal elections.
3) The role of small donor has declined.
4) Unregulated funds raised and spent in federal elections have increased dramatically. (CED 2).
Winning campaigns in the House in the last election cost upwards of 500,000 dollars while campaigns in the Senate average around 4 million. These high cost stress so much on raising money that instead of spending time trying to help the government, these Senators and Representatives are spending enormous amounts of time trying to raise money to win the next election. Competitive races for these offices have declined because of the cost to engage in a feasible campaign against incumbents and many qualified candidates are discouraged to even run for office. Incumbents have put emphasis on political action committee (PAC) contributions.
