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“We already pay for congressional campaigns, we just label it ‘the national debt.’ Interests that donate to campaigns often get what they want from legislation, and we all pay for that; by comparison, public financing seems like a bargain.”
- Lee HamiltonFormer Congressman from Indiana
ACR Advisory Board Member
Weeks: Making Washington Work Is a Bipartisan Job
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
By Daniel Weeks, ACR President
Originally published in Roll Call
[...] The symptoms of this big-money problem are clear, and they are hardly limited to one political party or the other: a senior Democratic Congressman under investigation for accepting donations to pet projects from groups with business before his committee; a Republican leader raising large donations in a “cash-for-speaker” scheme that promises personal meetings and “much more” for heavy hitters; and a leaked fundraising call by a longtime subcommittee chairwoman requesting financial support from a lobbyist on the basis of “my major work … in your sector.”
In this context of mounting cynicism over the role of special interests in our elections, the rationale for Members of Congress from both political parties to forge a compromise solution is stronger than ever.
One important step would be a straightforward disclosure law requiring corporations to take responsibility for their ads when availing themselves of the Supreme Court’s unlimited “free speech” electioneering allowance. Indeed, such disclosure laws have long been a mainstay of both Republican and Democratic opinion on campaign finance reform and are roundly supported in public opinion polls. A disclosure bill already passed the House in June and requires just one or two Republican votes to move forward in the Senate.
But disclosure — like the camera fitted to BP’s ruptured oil well in the Gulf — can do little more than remind a disaffected public of a problem they already know. A second and more sweeping solution is needed to end once and for all the long-standing practice of campaigns funded by special interests.
The Fair Elections Now Act, introduced in the House by Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Rep. Walter Jones Jr. (R-N.C.), would establish citizen ownership of congressional elections. Modeled after successful Fair Elections programs in eight states, the law would require participating candidates to say no to special interest money and accept only donations less than $100 from their constituents. Candidates who reach a qualifying threshold of 1,500 in-state donations would then be eligible to receive sufficient matching funds to run a viable campaign. [...]