Giveaways To Wall Street in Spending Bill Make 'Great Train Robbery Look Like a Misdemeanor'

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/12/10/giveaways-wall-street-and-nations-wealthiest-spending-bill-make-great-train-robbery

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Campaign finance reform advocates protest outside the Capitol building in Washington D.C., 2011. (Photo: takomabibelot/cc/flickr)

Watchdog groups are sounding the alarm as congressional lawmakers finalize an eleventh-hour omnibus bill, which observers say contains gifts to both big monied banks and donors.

Thanks to a provision slipped into the more than $1 trillion congressional funding bill, which lawmakers agreed to late Tuesday evening, wealthy donors will now be legally permitted to contribute even more funds to political parties.

The behemoth spending bill funds a wide variety of government programs, from school lunches to environmental protections.

The spending package (pdf), which is expected to be voted on by before the weekend, includes a provision (see page 1599) to create three separate accounts within the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee, each for reportedly different purposes such as operating costs, legal proceedings, and each party's nominating convention.