Overall, I am skeptical about the positive effect of politicians calling for campaign finance reform. For the most part they are just too invested in the "system of corruption" to try to fix their own problem. Unless they ALL support it, they will all revert to what best serves their own interests.
However, just last week the President responded on line to the direct question--
Question: What are
you going to do to end the corrupting influence of money in politics during
your second term?
"Money has always been a factor in politics, but we are
seeing something new in the no-holds-barred flow of seven- and eight-figure
checks, most undisclosed, into super-PACs; they fundamentally threaten to
overwhelm the political process over the long run and drown out the voices of
ordinary citizens. We need to start with passing the Disclose Act that is
already written and [has] been sponsored in Congress — to at least force
disclosure of who is giving to who. We should also pass legislation prohibiting
the bundling of campaign contributions from lobbyists. Over the longer term, I
think we need to seriously consider mobilizing a constitutional amendment
process to overturn Citizens United (assuming the Supreme Court doesn't revisit
it). Even if the amendment process falls short, it can shine a spotlight of the
super-PAC phenomenon and help apply pressure for change."
The intent of the Disclose Act is to require greater
transparency. But this alone might not
be sufficient to stop the corruption. I
will have more to say about that next week.
Another movement going on today is the Fair Elections Now
Act. That bill would allow federal
candidates to choose to run for office without relying on large contributions,
big money bundlers, or donations from lobbyists, and would be freed from the
constant fundraising in order to focus on what people in their communities
want. For more information go to http://fairelectionsnow.org/.
No comments:
Post a Comment