Republicans on the Senate Rules Committee defended donors like the Kochs. | AP Photos Kochs (in absentia) at Senate hearing

Though they were absent, Republican megadonors Charles and David Koch were the headliners in a heated partisan clash on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Republicans on the Senate Rules Committee launched into a vigorous defense on the rights of donors like the Kochs to spend money on politics. Democrats, by contrast, blamed big donors for drowning out the voices of ordinary Americans and vowed to bring up a constitutional amendment to reform the campaign finance system.


“It is amazing how, for years, George Soros has been spending millions of dollars to promote liberal and progressive causes,” said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), referring to the liberal business magnate. “None of my friends on the other side of the aisle seemed to be concerned about it.

( QUIZ: How well do you know the Koch brothers?)

“Now that the Koch family is spending money to promote free markets and private enterprise, we are supposed to believe that our democracy is at risk? That is absurd,” Roberts added.

Democrats have made attacking the Kochs — two billionaire brothers who made their fortunes in the oil business — a centerpiece of their 2014 midterm campaign strategy. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has routinely taken to the Senate floor to denounce the Kochs.

The two brothers raised and spent upwards of $400 million during the 2012 cycle and are poised to play a major role in the 2014 cycle as well. Reid has called the Kochs “un-American,” blamed them for derailing a Ukraine aid bill and called them “power-drunk billionaires” — all from the floor of the Senate.

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Reid, Roberts says “has a fixation with the Koch family that can only be described as bizarre, takes to the floor on an almost daily basis to attack them. Why? Because he fears they pose a threat to his hold on power.”

“The First Amendment doesn’t allow us to silence those who oppose us. That applies to corporations, labor unions, Mr. Soros and the Koch family. It applies to everyone,” Roberts said.

Democrats, by contrast, argued that their reform proposals were commonsense regulations that did not significantly curtail the First Amendment rights of Americans.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowed that Senate Democrats would hold a vote on a constitutional amendment to regulate campaign finance and reverse two recent Supreme Court decisions.

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Schumer said all constitutional guarantees were subject to common-sense limitations.

“We have many, many, many different laws that pose limits on the amendments because through two hundred and some odd years of jurisprudence the Founding Fathers and the Supreme Court have realized that no amendment is absolute,’ Schumer said.

“Most of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle support anti-pornography legislation. That’s a limitation on the First Amendment,” Schumer said. He added: “We have noise ordinances. Everyone accepts them. That’s a limitation on the First Amendment.”

“The laws we’re proposing affected the Koch brothers and George Soros, And should,” Schumer said.

Schumer’s proposed constitutional amendment faces impossible odds. Even if it made it through Congress, any amendment would require support from 38 state legislatures.

The hearing underscored the gulf between the two parties on campaign finance and free speech issues.

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens testified at the hearing, making a plea that “campaign finance is not a partisan issue.” Sen. Angus King — an independent from Maine who chaired the hearing — echoed him, saying: “This is not a partisan issue; it is a systemic issue that threatens all of us and our very democracy. What one party may now view as an advantage could overnight turn the other way.”

But largely the two parties don’t see eye to eye on how to reform the system — with Republicans on the committee pushing for the stripping away of all contribution limits.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that the current campaign finance system was a jumbled mess that protected incumbent politicians

“Our current system makes no sense,” Cruz said. “Right now, we have super PACs that are speaking on the sidelines. And you have politicians who play games.”

Cruz said that outside groups spring up to defend politicians, but the politicians cannot coordinate with them — or correct any of the misinformation that the outside groups peddle..

“A far better system would be to allow individuals unlimited contributions to candidates and require immediate disclosure,” Cruz said. “Let the marketplace of ideas operate. Let more speech counter bad speech. Rather than this silly game we play now.”