It also implies that any limit on the size of contributions, by individuals or corporations, may now be held to be unconstitutional.
The close ties between candidates and super PACs undermine post-Watergate reforms that were designed to limit the size of contributions to federal candidates.
The Kochs will not reveal the identities of their donors, or the size of contributions, but the Mercers reportedly began giving at least a million dollars a year to the Kochs' fund.
In fact, statewide elections in California, which has no limits on the size of contributions, or New York, where candidates for governor can rake in as much as $41,400 per donor, are not more open to money-challenged candidates.
Until the law changed, Illinois was among the few states that placed no limits on the size of contributions, a situation that many reformers tied to the state's sordid political culture.
Currently, there are no limits on the size of contributions 527s can accept.Ney sees the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which he opposed, as a failure since it did nothing to prevent the flow of huge, unregulated soft-money donations to outside groups, even as it prohibited the national parties from accepting such contributions.
WASHINGTON — Two federal courts here issued decisions on Friday addressing the impact of Citizens United, January's big Supreme Court campaign finance ruling, on a new issue — whether the government may constitutionally restrict the size of contributions to groups that spend money to support political candidates.
In her model, voting rights increase with the size of contributions up to a certain limit so that small shareholders retain an incentive to invest.
Donations made to a candidate for the state Assembly or Senate are usually a small part of California's political money machine, a function of the relatively low limits on the size of contributions.
Identification of contributing factors is challenging, as the effect size of each contribution is likely to be modest.
