The Senate voted this week not to overturn the Supreme Court's controversial 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling. The bill would have attempted to limit the unprecedented amount of money being spent in elections, but failed to muster the necessary 67 votes to amend the Constitution in a 54-42 vote.
Proponents of the bill criticize the amount of "dark", or anonymous, money being spent in elections since the ruling, while its opponents argue the bill would severely limit free speech rights in elections.
The Supreme Court ruling has been criticized as the "opening the floodgates" for unknown money being poured into elections, most notably by President Obama in his State of the Union Address directly in front of several Justices. Democrats continue to press the issue of campaign finance reform but have thus far failed to gain legislative traction.
However gloom the Democrats declare the state of our election politics, a massive chunk (over $1 billion) of fundraising money still flows through parties directly. Parties must disclose their donors and are thus largely unaffected by the ruling.
Similarly for candidates, disclosure of direct donations is required. Some interest groups are now allowed to spend without limits, and the results are clear. For reference to a specific election, look no further than the NY-21st election. More than $1 million was spent in outside spending just in the Republican primary, mostly from American Crossroads with only partial disclosure.
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