PARTY FINANCIAL ACTIVITY SUMMARIZED FOR THE 2008 ELECTION CYCLE: PARTY SUPPORT FOR CANDIDATES INCREASES
"The Democratic and Republican parties raised nearly $1.6 billion and spent more than $1.5 billion between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2008, according to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) compilation of information from reports submitted by federally registered party committees at the national, state and local levels.

Republican national, state and local party committees that report to the FEC raised $792.9 million during 2007-2008 in federally permissible funds, or “hard money.” Democratic party committees raised $763.3 million during the same period.Democratic party receipts for the 2008 election cycle represent a 58% increase over the 2006 cycle and a 10.8% increase over the 2004 presidential election cycle. Republican party receipts grew 32.4% from 2006, and 1.3% from 2004.The limits on contributions from individuals to national party committees are indexed for inflation. For the 2008 cycle, individuals could contribute as much as $28,500 to a national party committee, while political action committees (PACs) could contribute up to $15,000. No direct contributions from corporations or labor organizations are permitted..."