Russ Feingold: “The concept of ``coordination'' has been part of Federal campaign finance law since Buckley versus Valeo. It is a…”

“The concept of ``coordination'' has been part of Federal campaign finance law since Buckley versus Valeo. It is a common-sense concept recognizing that when outside groups coordinate their spending on behalf of a candidate with a candidate or a party, such spending is indistinguishable from a direct contribution to that candidate or party. Accordingly, such coordinated spending by outside groups is, and should be, treated as a contribution to the candidate or party that benefits from such spending. As such, it is subject to the source and amount limitations under federal law for contributions to federal candidates and their parties. An effective restriction on outside groups coordinating their campaign-related activities with federal candidates and their political parties is needed to prevent circumvention of the campaign finance laws. The bill bans soft money contributions to the national political parties, which totaled $463 million during the 2000 election cycle.”