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Votes
for Sale: Highest Bidders Accepted
July 13, 2001
by
Maren L. Hickton
Yesterday, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives
- using a cynical Parliamentary maneuver - may have succeeded
in killing Campaign Finance Reform for this legislative session.
Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, and Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin,
sponsored and barely passed legislation in the Senate for
Campaign Finance Reform which limits individual contributions
to candidates, defines permitted/prohibited uses of contributions
for specific purposes, amends disclosure provisions, and most
importantly - bans unlimited contributions from unions, corporations
and individuals in the form of "soft money." This measure
also bar unions, corporations and some independent groups
from broadcasting certain types of political advertising close
to a general election. This bipartisan legislation was developed
in the interest of saving democracy where all too often the
election prize in America goes to the candidate with the deepest
purse.
Sounds good to most Americans who broadly support this legislation,
who do not appreciate being bombarded with ads by a variety
of special interest concerns who assume we are all a bunch
of dopes. These groups literally take over the airways pre-election
under the veiled pretense of educating us all about the many
(self-serving) contributions they are making to society and
enlightening us as to which politician we should support.
In other words, which candidate they have simultaneously voted
to line the pockets of, which one is their favorite pick to
win favors.
So what's the problem with what amounts to campaign bribery
reform?
Well, for one thing, Bush opposes McCain's Bill, just like
he has opposed everything else he hasn't put forth himself
- no matter what it is. And for another, House GOP leaders
allege that "the soft-money ban is a violation of free speech
rights." Are we all laughing yet? Free speech for whom?
Members of the GOP House have been yipping and hissing about
the possibility that they might have to work in the interest
of the people in their districts in order to win votes for
a change. What a catastrophe. Their nemesis? Senator John
McCain, one of their own major fundraisers and supporters.
The future of the House version of McCain-Feingold, sponsored
by Representatives Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Martin Meehan
(D-MA) is now in doubt. Even though it passed the Senate this
year, and even passed the House by a 252-179 margin not long
ago, Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Speaker of the House, has been
in overdrive trying to derail this Bill. Hopefully he has
not succeeded.
To distract from its substance, the GOP House feigned astonishment
over the fact that the Senator McCain took time out of his
busy schedule and campaigned for many newly elected House
members and then sent them letters asking for their support
in helping him to win passage of the Shays-Meehan Bill. What
a shock. With the Bush's poll numbers slipping the last thing
the horrified House leadership wants now is restrictions on
political contributions. I guess since they can't find someone
to cannibalize outside their own cave, they've picked their
target and McCain is it. So they've been taking turns swiping
at him in their plan to devour his Bill.
A major part of the GOP kill strategy has been to construct
of an alternative fake bill, care of Representative Bob Ney,
R-Ohio. According to Ney's Bill, soft-money "donations" would
be allowed to be as much as $75,000 for election activities
which include "voter registration drives." What kind of reform
is that? Based on Rep. Ney's own political fundraising activities,
81.3% of political contributions were derived from business
(62%) and labor (19.3%) with zero invested personally in his
own election, so I guess he has reason to be concerned. However,
I am sure that most people would conclude that Representative
Ney isn't being purely altruistic worrying about the social
issue concerning voter registration drives; Believing he is
concerned about getting enough voters to the polls for himself
to justify receiving over one million dollars from his campaign
contributors makes far more sense. If you dig deeper, you
will also find that Bob Ney received $10,000 from "Keep Our
Majority PAC," a Leadership PAC for Dennis Hastert.
According to many members of Congress, Ney's Bill was politically
designed to simply to die in committee so that it would never
be enacted. More recently, however, Democratic union leaders
and members from the Black Caucus seem to be supporting Ney's
Bill worried that they won't be able to accept enough money
under Shays-Meehan for "pre-election, get-out-the-vote activities."
What a charade. Ney's co-sponsor, Rep. Wynn, can't even keep
a straight face. How many election volunteers ever get paid
for time, gas, lunch or anything at all? If anything, volunteers
spend their own money on top of donating their time. Ney's
sham Bill provides Representatives with a tool with a deceptive
title to vote for very limited reform.
What does Senator McCain have to gain by his unrelenting
hard work to ensure passage of real Campaign Reform legislation?
Zip. What does McCain have to lose? Plenty. He is one of America's
most popular statesman, with broad Republican, Democratic,
and Independent appeal of which most organizations and major
business groups would be delighted to send him a check and,
collectively, have sent him millions.
In a representative democracy of the people, an "aye" vote
on Shays-Meehan as a no-brainer. All soft-money contributions
should be banned completely and personal contributions from
individuals to candidates should be limited even further.
What group sponsors a candidate for $75k (or even $20-30k)
that isn't seeking some kind of favor? Shays-Meehan is the
closest Bill to real Campaign Finance Reform - and is at least
a start.
Bush claims he won't veto this legislation. I wouldn't if
I were him either. After all, Bush just diverted a big chunk
of taxpayer money to the IRS to finance his own politicking:
a self-aggrandizing, provincial letter explaining to taxpayers
that rebate checks would be coming in the mail soon. Thanks
to these tax cuts, right about now many members in Congress
would like to see Bush sitting in the corner with a dunce
cap on his head as our economy is at a near standstill hovering
over a cliff of potential deficit spending.
References
for Review:
Federal Election Commission: http://www.fec.gov/
Money in American Elections: http://www.opensecrets.org/
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