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1962

President Kennedy’s Commission on Campaign Costs recommends that Congress provide Americans with a tax incentive — either a credit against taxes owed or a deduction from income — to contribute up to $1,000 to national party committees. But the commission rejects the idea of direct federal financing for candidates, saying that it might have the effect of discouraging Americans from becoming political donors. Instead it proposes a system in which individual donations of $10 or less would be matched by the federal government, up to $5 million per political party. (The commissioners lament the fact that “the bulk of presidential campaign funds available to both parties is now supplied by a relatively small group of contributors.”) Additionally, the commission recommends repeal of the $3 million limit on fundraising by national political committees, a restriction that the political parties have easily circumvented by setting up multiple fundraising organizations. It also suggests the creation of a federal “Registry of Campaign Finance” to collect detailed reports on political fundraising and expenditures and to monitor campaigns for violations of federal laws. Kennedy says that he will examine the report and propose campaign finance reform legislation, but he is slow to move on the issue, and he will be assassinated the following year without taking any action.