Cite as: 528 U. S. 377 (2000)
Thomas, J., dissenting
fies a law with a much broader sweep than that approved in Buckley. In Buckley, the Court upheld contribution limits of $1,000 on individuals and $5,000 on political committees (in 1976 dollars). 424 U. S., at 28-29, 35-36. Here, by contrast, the Court approves much more restrictive contribution limitations, ranging from $250 to $1,000 (in 1995 dollars) for both individuals and political committees. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 130.032.1 (Supp. 1999). The disparity between Missouri's caps and those upheld in Buckley is more pronounced when one takes into account some measure of inflation. See Shrink Missouri Government PAC v. Adams, 161 F. 3d 519, 523, and n. 4 (CA8 1998) (noting that, according to the Consumer Price Index, a dollar today purchases about a third of what it did in 1976 when Buckley was decided). Yet the Court's opinion gives not a single indication that the two laws may differ in their tailoring. See ante, at 395 (Missouri's caps are "striking [in their] resemblance to the limitations sustained in Buckley"). The Court fails to pay any regard to the drastically lower level of the limits here, fails to explain why political committees should be subjected to the same limits as individuals, and fails to explain why caps that vary with the size of political districts are tailored to corruption. I cannot fathom how a $251 contribution could pose a substantial risk of "secur[ing] a political quid pro quo." Buckley v. Valeo, supra, at 26. Thus, contribution caps set at such levels could never be "closely drawn," ante, at 387 (quoting Buckley v. Valeo, supra, at 25), to preventing quid pro quo corruption. The majority itself undertakes no such defense.
The Court also reworks Buckley's aggregate approach to the free speech rights of candidates. It begins on the same track as Buckley, noting that "a showing of one affected individual does not point up a system of suppressed political advocacy that would be unconstitutional under Buckley." Ante, at 396. See also, e. g., ibid. (claiming that candidates " 'are still able to amass impressive campaign war chests' "
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