Federal candidates raised more than $2 billion in the 2004 elections from individuals and political action committees. Under current law, individuals are limited in how much they can give per election cycle to $101,400.

But legislation passed by a congressional committee on a 6-3 straight party line vote (chaired by Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), a member being investigated for his connections to lobbyists) would remove that total limit on donations from individuals so that someone could funnel as much as $1 million to federal candidates.

It should come as no surprise that Tom DeLay supports this bill.

Wealthy donors have too much influence, not too little. Congress shouldn't be weakening campaign finance laws, they should be strengthening them by adopting comprehensive public financing like what is working well in several states around the country.