Real campaign finance reform: dilute the bad money with lots of good money

In his recent article at Salon.com, “How to fix campaign financing forever for $50,” Farhad Manjoo explores what should be a national priority: campaign finance reform. 

Why should it be a priority?  Because private money corrupts all political dialogue.  It makes us think that politicians are taking The People seriously, when they aren’t.  Our current system of private political donations give birth to the ubiquitous Orwellian political sound bites (e.g., the Clear Sky Law).

Presidential candidates must now start raising at least $2 million a week, or $286,000 every day, including weekends, until the election.  And the sales pitch for the contribution is not anything like this:

Please give me LOTS of money.  In return, I won’t invite you to special gatherings of political and corporate elites.  I won’t answer your phone calls any more than I answer the calls of people who don’t contribute anything.   I won’t have my staff flock to hear your legislative proposals.  All I’ll do is continue representing the interests of all the people.

What doesn’t work to fix the campaign contribution system?  Contribution limits. Manjoo argues that getting around the limits “has become a huge Washington business.” Here’s another thing that doesn’t work: Making politicians disclose who gave what to whom. Manjoo suggests that “sunlight just isn’t so great a disinfectant.”  Information is freely available, but there’s too much of it for the public to digest, or maybe we’re just apathetic.  As if we don’t know that huge energy and …

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John Edwards commits to public financing of political campaigns

In my opinion, two issues which overshadow all other issues: media reform and public financing of political campaigns. Why? Without these two reforms, public information will continue to be dishonest information. The media and those running for national public office will continue to present a picture warped by corporate (purely…

Continue ReadingJohn Edwards commits to public financing of political campaigns

Dennis Kucinich on A) Media Reform and B) How Bush is Scaring the Republicans

It wasn’t on the original schedule of the National Conference for Media Reform, but Dennis Kucinich agreed to hold a press conference tonight.  Kucinich ran for president of the United States in 2004.  He has indicated that he plans to run again in 2008.

I hadn’t ever before been to to a press conference of a presidential candidate.  I learned of it at the last minute.  I packed my press credentials (the media reform conference granted these to me on the basis of this blog), my video camera, a still camera, a pad of paper and a couple pens and dashed to the designated area.

In his prepared remarks, Kucinich pounced on the issue of media reform.  He demonstrated himself to be familiar with many aspects of media reform and the Internet.  In the not-too-distant future, he intends to hold Congressional hearings on media reform (“for an entire week, if necessary”).  He believes that media issues are among the most important issues facing this country today.  In response to a question I asked, Kucinich said he considers the media reform to be closely related to the possibility of campaign finance reform.  At the point when we have more of the former, he said, we will have the opportunity to implement the latter.  Campaign finance reform should take the form of public financing, he asserted.

He invited those attending to submit their ideas for issues to explore at his media reform hearings.  Foremost among those topics will be media ownership.  In …

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Continue ReadingDennis Kucinich on A) Media Reform and B) How Bush is Scaring the Republicans

Mark Foley is a whore. No, not THAT kind of whore . . .

Mark Foley is a political whore, like most of his elected peers in Washington, DC.  Yes, this post is yet another plea for radical campaign finance reform.

Our country appears to be going down the tubes and for the most part it is not because of perverts like Mark Foley are trying to seduce young boys.  The reason we are really in trouble is because hundreds of elected officials (Mark Foley among them) are perverting our Constitution by acquiescing in our corrupt (though technically legal) election system.

How often do you hear a politician discussing an issue in a way that makes intuitive sense to you and seems straightforward?  Not very often, in my experience.  Almost all political conversations emanating from DC are contorted by money.  That is why very little political dialogue makes sense to those who are not closely monitoring the flow of contributions.  The result is that we the citizens are getting is a steady stream of legislation geared toward helping big contributors (mostly big companies) at the expense of individual citizens. 

Today, Salon.com featured an article about Mark Foley, a known sex pervert.  Foley has also been busy perverting our electoral system (as have most other elected federal officials) by taking big money from corporate interests and working hard to reward those contributors. Since Foley himself happened to be in the news already, Salon.com made him today’s poster boy in an article demonstrating that political/financial quid pro quo is alive and well.

The Salon.com story …

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Conservatives are out of ideas, just like the Democrats

I’ve often referred to the Dauo Report to check out well-written blogs on the left and the right.   It’s truly a good site for getting a glimpse of what people are thinking.  Here’s a snapshot of what blogs on the right are thinking these days: How will the GOP remove…

Continue ReadingConservatives are out of ideas, just like the Democrats