A Call to Abolish the FEC

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http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/a-call-to-abolish-the-fec/249325/

The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street are as far apart on the political spectrum as possible, but both cry foul at the capture of government by special interests. Left and right alike agree that elected officials shouldn't finance their campaigns with contributions from the industries they regulate.

But even stanching the flow of favor-seeking dollars to our representatives won't address the potential corruption that flows from soft money spent by supposedly "independent" groups. To safeguard our democracy, we need strong rules that will bring transparency and accountability to this outside spending -- and an oversight agency that can, and will, enforce them.

The Federal Election Commission isn't up to the task. It has refused time and again to enforce the campaign finance laws its commissioners are sworn to uphold. It should be replaced.

The dangers of outside money are growing. Non-candidate political spending rose significantly in the last election cycle, and it's poised to shatter historic records this time around. In 2010, during the first election after the Supreme Court's Citizens United case paved the way for unlimited spending by corporations and unions, outside spending increased more than 400 percent compared to the prior midterm election. Almost half came from groups that didn't disclose their donors. If spending increases at the same rate in 2012, we'll see more than a billion dollars worth of political spending by groups that aren't accountable to the public.