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31 Whittier L. Rev. 81 (2009-2010)
Money Can't Buy You Love...And It Shouldn't Buy You a Seat in Congress Either

handle is hein.journals/whitlr31 and id is 89 raw text is: MONEY CAN'T BUY YOU LOVE... AND IT SHOULDN'T BUY YOU A SEAT IN CONGRESS EITHER I. INTRODUCTION If a millionaire candidate for the House of Representatives wants to self-fund his campaign, under recently enacted legislation, his opponent is allowed to accePt campaign contributions of triple the statutorily imposed amount. The legislation in question is the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA).2 More specifically, section 319 of the BCRA (also known as the Millionaire's Amendment) employs an asymmetrical triggering scheme under which a candidate may accept larger individual donations and political party expenditures on his or her behalf when facing a self- funded opponent. The reasoning behind the statute is to level the playing field and counter the appearance of corruption in federal elections.4 Section 319 is a legitimate effort to balance the ability of candidates to compete under special and uncommon circumstances with a general interest in reducing corruption and the appearance of corruption.5 The Supreme Court, in Davis v. Federal Election Commission, held that this provision violates the self-funding candidate's First Amendment right to free speech.6 The Court's reasoning, however, is flawed. Davis' First Amendment rights were in no way abridged by the enactment of the Millionaire's Amendment because: (1) He was unable to show that he had suffered or would imminently suffer any particularized harm as a result of the asymmetrical scheme, and 1. 2 U.S.C. § 441a-l(a)(1) (2006). 2. Davis v. Fed. Election Comrnn., 128 S. Ct. 2759, 2766 (2008). 3. Richard Wolf Hess, Student Author, No Fair Play for Millionaires? McCain- Feingold's Wealthy Candidate Restrictions and the First Amendment, 70 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1067, 1070-71 (2003). 4. Id. at 1074. 5. Br. of App. at 27, Davis, 128 S. Ct. 2759 (2008). 6. Davis, 128 S. Ct. at 2771, 2775 (2008).