The Guilfordian

Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: World

"There is no evidence that stricter campaign finance rules reduce corruption or raise positive assessments of government," Mayer told The New York Times. "It seems like such an obvious relationship but it has proven impossible to prove."

Other experts agree.

In The New York Times' report, economist Jeff Milyo pointed to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's opinion "that no evidence was marshaled in 100,000 pages of legal briefs to show that unrestricted campaign money ever bought a lawmaker's vote."

There are those like Dell who look to the Internet to investigate, where anyone can follow who is financially supporting politicians.

"If the Court's decision gets average American people talking about the role of money in politics by going to Votesmart.org or Opensecrets.org, then this ruling has helped more than it's harmed - even if that was not the original design," said Dell.

With tensions rising between the White House and the Supreme Court, the impact of this legislation will be uncertain until the midterm elections.

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