Campaign Finance Reform
"...this case does not present a close
call....
Leave the perception of impropriety unanswered and the cynical
assumption
that large donors call the tune could jeopardize the willingness of the
voters to take part in democratic governance. Democracy works only if
the
people have faith in those who govern, and that faith is bound to be
shattered
when high officials and their appointees engage in activities which
arouse
suspicions of malfeasance and corruption.... there is little
reason
to doubt that sometimes large contributions will work actual corruption
of our political system, and no reason to question the existence of a
corresponding
suspicion among voters...." Justice Souter, Majority opinion
"Money is property, it is not free speech."
Supreme Court Justice Stevens' concurring opinion
And even Justice Kennedy, one of the strongest 1st Amendment proponents stunned observers by allowing that limits might be acceptable:
The KEY POINT is politicians do not oppose campaign reform because they like raising money, but simply because the present system best protects their incumbency and the status quo.
51% of voting age Americans did not vote in
1996, 64% did not vote in 1998; more than half of all children in
America
live in homes where neither parent votes.
While only about 20% of Americans between
18 and 24 voted in the past 2 elections, nearly 46% of that same age
bracket
volunteered for groups like Habitat for Humanity in 1998, up from 38%
in
1995.
"The fact that so few civic-minded Americans
vote is damming -- not of the no-show voters but of the so-called
'serious'
politicians whose homogenized, flattering platitudes fail to engage
them.
At a time when most Americans, not merely the young, take a pass on
election
day, there may well be an untapped hunger for a candidate of any
stripe,
with or without a boa, who instead of pandering to America will kick it
in the pants. F. Rich, 10/23/99
"'I don't know of anyone who sets out
thinking
,'Let's set out to kill democracy.' [But] they want their
candidate
to win. If democracy gets hurt in the process....'" K. Lauerman,
quoting a political campaign consultant working in New Hampshire in an
article on "one of the dirty little secrets of political consultants"
of
using negative ads to sully the process so completely that mainstream
voters
are turned off and don't vote at all.
"Blocking the Vote," NYT Magazine 1/23/00
The low voter participation is a key reason
the NRA and other single-issue groups are able to impose their views on
the country.... e.g. their biggest asset isn't their financial
contributions,
but their ability to arouse their members to political action... it's
not
that the NRA (and other single-issue groups) members are more
civic-minded,
but rather that they have been whipped into action by highly emotional
and strident appeals...
This "strategy" of using negative campaigns
to intentionally to turn off voters so each of their "true believers"
votes
will count for more.... is nothing less than an attack on the
fundamental
principals of our democracy.....
"No one has ever seen money like
this."
C. Lewis, Center for Public Integrity
At least
30 senators and representatives
have recently created "leadership" PAC's, many based in states that do
not require lawmakers to identify their donors or limit the amount of
contributions
they can accept....
Anther
fundraising loophole is "527 organizations,"
which test the boundaries of campaign law by allowing unlimited
contributions
from unidentified donors...and all tax-free. Besides the
Republican
and Democrat parties, this new gimmick is being used by the Christian
Coalition
and the Sierra Club.
"Secret unlimited money is about as dangerous
as you can get on American politics in terms of corrupting the system.
" F. Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21. NYT 10/20/99
"The average American understands that
politics
these days is more of a spectator sport than a participatory
sport."
L Makison, Center for Responsive Politics
Money is a tool of the politicians trade just
as hammers are to carpenters and hoes are to gardeners. D.
Rosenbaum
NYT 9/15/999
"The true spirit of democracy cannot survive
where cash is king." B. Herbert NYT 10/7/99
"If we want to make significant changes with
regard to how we conduct campaigns, we must look beyond limiting the
flow
of money into politics and rather look to limiting the candidates need
for money to pay for television time." M. Frankel
The original McCain-Feingold campaign reform
bill included provisions for free or reduced-cost TV time for federal
candidates.
But the sponsors abandoned that provision rather than take on the
influential
broadcast lobby.
Former Presidents Ford and Carter and former
CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite and a host of other civic leaders
lobbied
television executives to give candidates short segments of free time
just
before the election. Television broadcasters licenses are worth
billions
of dollars, and were given to them by the federal government for free.
More than 25% of state constitutions declare
that "a system of public instruction is required because an informed
and
capable citizenry is vital to the preservation of a free and democratic
government.
Only 9% of high school seniors were able give
2 reasons why it is important for citizens to be involved in a
democratic
society. Results of a national test on American Government given
in 1999
"When students in the world's most powerful
democracy cannot see the value of representative government, we need to
rethink the culture we have created. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
editorial
From 1997 to 1999 the number of registered
lobbyists in Washington grew by a whopping 37%, to more than 20,000,
while
the amount of money spent reached $1.42 billion.... this works out to
roughly
38 lobbyists for each member of Congress.... There are 20,000 lobbyists
hard at work every day. Like a swarm of ravenous termites
reducing
a house to sawdust, they are making a meal out of the foundations of
our
democracy. It's time to throw a tent over Washington and
fumigate."
A. Huffington 8/22/99
"I think the only difference between me and
the other candidates is that I'm more honest and my women are more
beautiful...
I've already go my own airplane. We could save money on Air Force
One." D. Trump
"Let's move tax day from April 15 to the day
before the elections. We may then see how strong this supposed
liberal
revival really is." W. Pope NYT Letters 11/17/99
"Any veteran observer of Congress would say that the typical member
today is better educated and harder-working than whoever held the seat
35 years ago, and less likely to be a drunk or a womanizer or to take
bribes.
Yet consumers of a press that rarely covered those weaknesses before
and
covers them now as a regular matters have an opposite set of
impressions.
And 30 second' attack ads that vilify all the candidates invite people
not to vote for particular candidates and not to vote at all." C. Gans,
"Nowadays, soft money can't be used to promote
a candidate... it is used to destroy a candidate. The soft money
is the origin of negative advertising that afflicts our political
system."
Jimmy Carter
"Voters should banish the spin doctors who
find conviction in focus groups and who confuse salesmanship with
leadership.
Politics is a clash of ideas, not a blood sport. It is a contest
for principles, not a holy war. Only those willing to lose for
principles
deserve to win at the polls." Gerald Ford, 4/17/97
The Shakedown of Corporate America