Billionaire mega-donors are already blowing through the old caps on campaign spending
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When the Supreme Court last month struck down longstanding limits on the aggregate amount of money individuals could fork over to candidates and campaigns, the decision seemed destined to open the floodgates for ever more money in politics. And indeed, that already seems to be the case, according to a report from Open Secrets.
The old limits placed a $74,600 cap on contributions to party committees and PACs per two-year election cycle. Two weeks after the Supreme Court's ruling, billionaire David Koch upped his donations this cycle to $96,00. Meanwhile, Democratic mega-donor Amy P. Goodman sent the Democratic National Committee a $32,000 check on the very day the high court nixed the old contribution caps.
The coming midterms were already on track to be by far the most expensive non-presidential election in history. It appears the Supreme Court has only made them more so.
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Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
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