Ayers Online - Combining Economics AND Technology

AyersOnline.com
Home > Ayers' Editorials > Classic Columns

Cutting Politicians' Power Would Yield
Campaign Finance Reform
by

This first appeared in the
North Hills News Record

The Lincoln Bed and Breakfast that the Clinton's were operating at the White House is just the latest incident in the ongoing saga of campaign financing follies.

Not to worry. The starry-eye believers in good government say we can put an end to these ridiculous fund-raising shenanigans with more stringent campaign regulations.

But trying to control how people spend their money is like trying to plug the holes in a sieve. You just can't do it. There will always be leaks. Besides, too much campaign money isn't the issue.

It's true that last year's election was the most expensive political campaign yet. Republicans went through close to $400 million trying to win the White House. Democrats spent about $250 million to keep it. But when you're lobbying people to vote for someone who will preside over a $7 trillion economy, that's not a lot of money. Companies spend a heck of a lot more than that convincing us to buy their brand of beer.

With that in mind, I do have some suggestions for campaign finance reform.

Don't limit the amount of money a person can contribute to a candidate. Current law limits individual donations to $1,000, but a person is free to spend as much of their own money as they want.

Removing this restriction will give us someone else to listen to besides zany Ross Perot. If someone wants to clean out their piggy bank to back a candidate who supports their sacred cause then let them.

Require records for contribution amounts over $5,000. We shouldn't limit campaign contributions, but we do have a right to know who's trying to bend the ear of our public officials. Forcing full disclosure of every penny, however, puts an unnecessary burden on small grass-roots organizations. That leaves the political power in the hands of large well-heeled PACs and trade associations that easily navigate the complex web of rules and regulations with the help of expensive legal advisers.

Don't even think about restricting campaign contributions to a candidate's district.

If an incumbent senator in California supports environmental legislation to protect one-eyed dung beetles that could wipe out businesses in Pennsylvania, we have the right to fund the opponent. The same holds true for state races.

Despite these measures, the only way to eliminate campaign financing problems is to treat the cause. The Federal Register is the official publication for presidential documents and executive orders as well as notices, rules and proposed rules from federal agencies and organizations.

In 1970, the Federal Register contained 20,036 pages. By 1995, the free-flowing bureaucratic red ink spilled across 67,518 pages. That means thousands of companies, their employees and stockholders have a lot riding on the legislative whims of some elected official.

That kind of power can do more harm than the toughest business competitor. Considering this, a couple of million dollars funneled into selected campaign coffers seems like a logical business investment.

As long as government wields so much power over our lives, people will find ways to tilt the odds in their favor. The only way to run a clean campaign is to diminish a politician's political power.