Campaign Finance Reform

I think it is clear to most Americans that the dependence on special-interest money by elected officials has corrupted our democracy to the point where "we the people" no longer own our government. Lawmakers are less and less beholden to the voters and more and more in the pockets of the corporations, PACs, and special interests that finance their campaigns. Incumbents are returned to Congress election after election, then they repay their wealthy benefactors with taxpayer giveaways and special interest legislation. Challengers are discouraged from running by the huge war chests amassed by entrenched legislators. Even officeholders who espouse a platform to reform the system often find themselves hard-pressed to resist the massive lobbying and out-and-out buying of influence in the halls of Congress. This outrage has to stop. Private underwriting of political campaigns is a worn-out cloth... it's time for a new suit!

There are many ideas floating around as to how we can fix the system and begin to give the government back to the people.

Indeed, fifty-seven measures languish on Capitol Hill , though the only vote was just in the Senate, on a much watered-down McCain-Feingold Bill. And this bill, which sought to limit soft money (that is, the unregulated contributions that can be made to the political parties), was defeated anyway -- because it was voted on by the very Senators who have profited so mightily from the corrupt system already in place.

In addition, since the Supreme Court has, in my opinion, erroneously ruled that money equals free speech (ignoring the distinction between protecting everyone's right to speak and the power to dominate the conversation) the legal issues of campaign finance reform are enmeshed in a thicket of Constitutional law and legal precedent, with many good ideas susceptible to court challenge or doomed to stillbirth.

But there are several elements of campaign finance reform that I believe are in the best interests of our country which can be enacted without stepping through the minefield planted by the Supreme Court. One is to adhere to the broad outlines of what has become known as the "Clean Money" campaign. Candidates who can 1) demonstrate a broad popular support, 2) agree not to take private money, and 3) abide by voluntary spending limits, will receive public funding to the extent that they will become competitive with their privately-supported opponents. This single reform, alone, will begin to level the playing field so that good candidates without money or ties to special interests have a fair chance of running for office.

Second, since the largest slice of campaign spending goes to media advertising, especially TV, it is time for us to remind the broadcast outlets that they do not own the airwaves. The fact is that the broadcast spectrum belongs to the people of the United States and it is time for us to exercise our rights over our own property and demand free airtime for all qualified candidates so that they may communicate with the electorate about the important issues facing our citizenry.

I believe that, someday, there will no longer be anything but public financing for political campaigns. Imagine a polity where elected officials will no longer spend time in the demeaning and potentially compromising task of raising obscene amounts of money in order to obtain and protect their tenure. We deserve a country where qualified candidates from all walks of life have the ability to run and serve without depending on personal fortunes or special interest contributions. Let us begin now!

Let us send to office, not career politicians--whose vote has been bought and paid for--but citizen legislators whose devotion to the people who elected them is not tainted by big money and the corrupting influences of the special interests. Let's replace the best government money can buy with candidates who promise to change the system. Remember, it's not what is illegal that is the problem-- though the sideshow of campaign finance hearings would have you think so-- it's what is legal that's really the source of the problem. The current system is made of worn-out cloth... It's time for a new suit!