Republicans on FEC want firms to be able to raise money for candidates

The fallout from the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission keeps coming.

The case loosened restrictions on corporations that do political campaigning with the proviso that they do it without working with candidates. But in a little-noticed document, three FEC commissioners have said they think corporations should be allowed to raise money directly for candidates. As it is now, corporations are prohibited from helping candidates raise money. The furthest they can go is allowing a candidate to hold fundraisers on their property, and even then, the campaign must pay for the space in advance. But the three commissioners, all Republicans, said those prohibitions are "at best suspect" in light of Citizens United's protection of free speech for corporations. The commissioners' statement, while not a change in the law or regulations, indicates how far they are willing to take the court's decision when policing the rules for money in politics.