House Bill Ends Funding of National Party Conventions

House Republicans and Democrats have come to agree on at least one way to reduce government spending, by ending federal assistance for the two parties' increasingly expensive and stage-managed presidential conventions.

Rep. Tom Cole, the Oklahoma Republican who sponsored the legislation, says the government has spent about $224 million on the quadrennial gatherings of party faithful since 1976, when in the post-Watergate era it was considered a way to reduce the influence of money in politics.

He says this year federal assistance for the two conventions was about $35 million, slightly more than 20 percent of the costs as the parties turn to private donors to pay for the lavish events.

The vote Wednesday was 310-95. The Senate has approved similar legislation but must act on the House bill.

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