Andrea Joy Campbell: “The Supreme Court has upheld expenditure restrictions. In Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce in 1990, the…”

“The Supreme Court has upheld expenditure restrictions. In Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce in 1990, the Supreme Court said it was constitutional to limit the campaign expenditures of corporations to--zero! The Supreme Court has upheld contribution restrictions. In Buckley v. Valeo the Supreme Court said that the $1,000 maximum for individuals to contribute was constitutional. And again in 1981 in California Medical Association v. FEC the Supreme Court said that it was constitutional to limit campaign contributions, in this case to PACs. So it is really quite wrong to say that the first amendment, at least as interpreted by the Supreme Court, prohibits limitations on contributions or limitations on expenditures. What, rather, is accurate to say is that the Supreme Court has interpreted the first amendment to say that restrictions reasonably related to the purpose of communicating speech effectively and honestly are permitted and that undue restrictions are not. And hence we need to reach a balance.”