"House Republicans made a last-minute attempt Saturday

to limit individual political donations to independent organizations. It was a move aimed at hampering Democratic-aligned groups that were powerful in 2004 and could threaten GOP candidates next year.

As Congress rushed to finish for the year, Republican leaders met privately and sought to attach the campaign finance legislation — which has idled in the House for months — to a defense bill that was ready for final passage.

They stalled when Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., refused to sign off on the defense bill as long as it contained the campaign finance measure. Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan, the top Democrat on Warner's committee, also objected, as did his counterpart in the House, Rep. Ike Skelton (news, bio, voting record), D-Mo.

House leaders weren't budging, throwing into question the fate of the defense bill, which includes a ban on the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign terrorism suspects in U.S. custody and other restrictions on detainee interrogation and prosecution."

snip

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051218/ap_on_go_co/congress_campaign_finance_2&printer=1

of decency on occasion.