Commenting on the undisclosed cash that was spent in the 2010 elections and the campaign finance reform battles that lie ahead in Congress, Democracy 21
“„Secret contributions in political campaigns are a formula for influencing-buying corruption. It has happened before and will happen again. [...]
“„Just as history tells us secrecy results in scandal, history also tells us that scandal results in reform.
“„The Watergate campaign finance scandals in the 1970s resulted in the creation of the landmark presidential public financing system which served the nation well for most of its existence until it became outdated when Congress failed to modernize it. The Watergate scandals also led to the enactment of limits on individual contributions to candidates and parties, upheld by the Supreme Court as necessary to prevent corruption of federal officeholders and government decisions.
“„The soft money scandals in the 1990s led to the ban on unlimited contributions to the national parties upheld by the Supreme Court in 2003, a decision that was reaffirmed by the Supreme Court earlier this year. The soft money ban continues to serve the country well in preventing a system of legalized bribery of federal officeholders.