First and foremost, the McCain-Feingold bill will ban soft money.
Soft money is the most corrupt money in the current campaign finance system.
The soft money loophole has allowed millions of dollars of unlimited contributions to be given to the national political parties by labor unions, corporations, and wealthy individuals to influence federal elections. These soft money donations have eviscerated the 1907 and 1947 statutes barring corporations and unions from using treasury funds to influence federal campaigns, as well as the 1974 law limiting the amount of contributions by individuals. Business leaders, fiscal conservatives, civil rights leaders, senior citizens, public health activists, and environmental groups all have called for a soft money ban because they believe that millions of dollars in special interest money negatively influences public policy and increases the public cynicism about our democracy. The McCain-Feingold bill will shut down the corrupt soft money system. The bill prohibits all soft money contributions to the national political parties from corporations, labor unions, and wealthy individuals, and prohibits federal candidates from raising or spending soft money.