This New York Times editorial urges the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the Republican Party’s lawsuit against the parts of the McCain-Feingold law that restrict how much money an individual may give to a national political party.

The case is Republican National Committee v Federal Election Commission. A 3-judge U.S. District Court upheld the limits on March 26. Lawsuits challenging any part of the McCain-Feingold law go directly from a 3-judge U.S. District Court, to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Republican Party is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.

Editorials in major newspapers on this subject never seem to comment on the effect of the ban on minor parties. Currently, the state of the law is that new political parties may receive unrestricted donations from individuals, but already-established minor parties that have “national committee” status from the FEC are subject to the limits. If the purpose of the limits is to prevent wealthy individuals from indirectly bribing members of Congress, and the President, by the device of contributing large sums of money to the major parties, one wonders what is the state rationale for limiting donations to parties that have never elected a member of Congress.