Shattering the illusion


Campaign finance reform has failed.
Here's one for the obvious one department.

McCain-Fiengold doesn't work.

With Democrats crowing that their presidential candidates raised record sums of money and are therefore destined to capture the White House, there needn't be any more debate. Sens. John McCain and Russ Fiengold failed miserably in their attempt to drive money from politics.

In 2004, the first presidential year that McCain-Fiengold restrictions were in place, President Bush and Sen. John Kerry turned down federal matching funds in the primaries so they wouldn't have to live under federal spending caps until after accepting their respective party's nominations. That year also saw the rise of unaccountable, independent political organizations, driven by the moneyed political base of each party. MoveOn.org, for one.

Now Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are shattering any illusion that money isn't central to winning the presidency. Together the two senators raised more than $50 million in the first quarter of this year and are enjoying reams of media coverage for the feat and for having far outpaced Republican candidates.

Slight correction here. McCain-Fiengold was never supposed to keep money from politics, it was supposed to keep the "wrong money" from politics. Which made it doomed before it started.

Since the law couldn't possibly work as it was written, it was enforced only against those unable to fight back.

It's why I think every law should be automatically repealed a year after passing unless it passes again. At least then we would get an idea of the damage that a law causes in time to stop it.

Here is my suggested plan for campaign finance reform.

All donations have to be declared publicly.

Any unused donations have to be proportionally returned to all donors.

Money can only be donated by individuals residing in the election area. No more Hollywood crowd donating for election campaign of a New York Senator.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Tue - April 10, 2007 at 02:49 PM  Tag


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