Feingold, McCain move to limit attack ad funds

[Freddie Stubbs]

'527' donations would be curtailed

By CRAIG GILBERT
[e-mail]
Posted: Feb. 2, 2005

Washington - The independent groups that produced some of the most attention-getting ads of the 2004 presidential campaign would be sharply curtailed under a bill offered Wednesday by Senate Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Senate Republican John McCain of Arizona and others.

Their aim is to prohibit the kind of multimillion-dollar donations that poured in last year from rich individuals on both the right and left.

"We're not going to wait for a problem to grow into a disaster," Feingold said Wednesday of a bipartisan effort to cap such contributions in future races.

The proposal would force the groups known as "527s" (for a provision in the tax code) to live under the sort of hard contribution limits that apply to parties, candidates and other political committees; no individual could give more than $25,000.

more: http://www.jsonline.com/news/nat/feb05/298582.asp