November 4 is nearing the United States which shall culminate the race for the Presidency of the United States. It is expected to be a tight race between Senators Barack Obama (Democrat, Illinois) and John McCain (Republican, Arizona). It has been a though and long run since the Summer of 2007 when a number of candidates launched their own election campaigns leading to the Primary Elections of both the Democratic and Republican Parties. It was so hardly contented even on the race for party nominations that talks of campaign costs were raised as an election concern. With the current economic crisis the World is facing now, campaign costs were definitely an issues. The New York Times reported that as of January 31, 2008, Barack Obama’s campaign spending reached $115 million and John McCain’s spending reaching about $41 million. The Federal Elections Commision does the quarterly reports on each candidate’s contributions and disbursements and are made available to the public. These are the COSTS OF THE U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
So how does a candidate funds for a United States presidential campaign? The offices of the President, Senator and Congressmen are federal offices. The campaigns for election to these offices are regulated by federal law and are under the Federal Elections Committee (FEC). The candidate shall organize a political committee/group and must register this with the Federal Elections Committee. The FEC is tasked to supervise and enforce campaign Finance Laws and shall dictate how campaign funds may be raised, from whom and how much. All campaign fund contributions of a federal candidate must be either from individuals or committees registered with the FEC. Direct contributions from non-permanent resident foreign citizens, corporations or labor unions are prohibited. Further, campaign fund contributions are not only restricted as to the contributors but also on the amount to be contributed. An individual is allowed to contribute to only a maximum of $2,300 to any single candidate’s campaign “per election”. “Per election” refers to the primary elections cycle and the national elections cycle but shall shall not donate more than $108,200 to all federal candidates and political committess during a two-year election cycle. A group of individuals, usually forming a corporation, is called a PAC or Political Committees. PACs are likewise subjected to a limit of campaign fund contribution to a federal candidate in the amount of $5,000. Business books may be needed to monitor campaign funding and spending. As simple as haiku poetry? or maybe not. The guidelines are perhaps simpler than how to play Sudoku.
However, in the Philippines, there is no such limitations or “ceiling ideas” yet as to the coin collecting for any elective candidate of a national office. The limitations or “flooring options” we have currently in place is for the spending limits to each registered voter but funds may be sourced from any group or individual without limitation on the amount. There is though a pending bill in the Philippine House of Representatives on the regulation of campaign funds sourcing and spending but I don’t see this to materialize anytime soon. Besides, even if these are regulated, if the intent of a candidate is to pursue personal agenda once elected, that elected official will always find ways to profit from public service and be occupied on “how do I make money” ideas.
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