Intended Consequences
Jim Sullivan
Many
political scientists and not a few U.S. citizens think that political campaign
financing for general elections is still the biggest problem facing America
today. It surely is, say dismissive politicians, if one discounts
the shortage of wooden nickels.
Although
contributions per contributor are limited in amount, candidates may raise
unlimited amounts in total. Yes, it has to be transparent and reported
publicly but who reads such reports? With all of those dollars, it
isn't any wonder that campaigns are with us night and day, week in and
week out, year after year, ad nauseam. Unlimited funds what more
could a candidate (or a spendthrift spouse, for that matter) want?
Why it's downright utopian!
Along
side of that problem is the perennial one of officials in office taking
time away from their jobs and, instead, raising more money to run against
their opponents in the next election. Consequently, the nation's
business isn't done in a timely fashion, if it's done at all. Something
drastic has to be done to remedy the situation.
Sure,
campaign finance reform has been enacted. It's known as the McCain/Feingold
Act, after a Republican and a Democratic U.S. Senator, respectively.
It limits the amount of soft money that can be donated to various supporting
organizations, like political parties. However, it doubles the amount
of hard money that individual contributors are allowed to give directly
to candidates.
We've
now gone through an election cycle and seen how the new, well-intentioned
legislation works. Sadly, not too terrific! To be precise,
it had at least one unintended consequence. It increased the contributions
to and the expenditures of 527 groups, a federal government category for
special interest groups which, like the Swift Boat Veterans, spend a lot
of money to advertise their own positions. Such ads, and those favoring
the other side, wreaked havoc in the presidential campaigns of John F.
Kerry and George W. Bush.
McCain/Feingold
went further than most pundits thought the Congress would allow.
What more, then, could the Congress do? Not much! Certainly
some new legislation might eventually be wrangled out of the Congress if
its two chambers could ever agree. But would that only create some
other unintended consequence that lets money flow into the campaign from
an unforeseen place? Probably.
One
little-known idea has been floating around in national political circles
lately that might just be the answer that Americans have been seeking.
It goes like this. First, Congress repeals the McCain/Feingold Act.
Next, Congress takes the cap off of direct, hard money campaign contributions,
making them unlimited. Anyone or any group corporations, nonprofit
groups, individuals, labor unions, political action committees (PACs),
and what have you could make uncapped contributions. All soft and
527 money donations and activity from any source would be disallowed.
The
first thing that would happen is that contributions would soar. But
not to worry. The new, unlimited contribution policy would include
a brief caveat written, of course, in small print. It would read,
"All contributions to any candidate for a particular office must be shared
with other candidates for that office." A small percentage, perhaps
10 or 15 percent, of the pooled money could go to minority candidates.
That could be based on their party's performance in the most recent past
election. Once major candidates are seen sharing all campaign funds
received, regardless of the source, the contributors are going to yell,
"Hey, wait a minute! Why should I give any more money to my candidate?
He has to share it with the opposition and I'm not about to donate to the
other side!"
At
that point, campaign contributions would start to dry up faster than if
someone said, "No tax deductions allowed!" After that, there wouldn't
be enough money for any candidate to campaign. They'd be left with
modest-sized, government-provided, equal-amount funds to be used to run
for office. That would limit the length and intensity of all campaigns.
The hope is that most campaigns could be completed within a couple of months.
Certainly the presidential race will require more time. Four to six
months should be adequate.
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