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June 27, 2006

Court Right to Toss VT Contribution Limits

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday struck down Vermont's campaign contribution limits, bumping the state back from $200 contribution limits to its earlier $2000 limits. I think the Court made the right decision.

I do not believe the problem with our campaign finance system is the size of contributions funneled to a campaign. The real problem is that the already existing campaign finance reporting laws are either full of holes or not enforced so that the voters still do not really know whose money is backing the issues or candidates they are being asked to support.

Limits on contribution amounts only encourage donors into covert action that will allow them to continue their buying of influence. The stakes are simply so high it is worth it to them to push the (cash-stuffed) envelope (across the table). Two of the chief methods used to hide the sources of contributions are money laundering through various organizations (such as Americans for Tax Reform) and "issues ads" funded by independent, nonprofit groups whose contributions and expenditures are not open for public inspection. Nothing is being done about these means of circumventing existing campaign finance law. Instead, people continue to clamor for tighter restrictions.

When the public knows where campaign money originates, it affects their support for an issue or candidate, as evidenced by the great lengths to which political activists and candidates frequently go to hide the sources of their campaign funds. And in today's media-rich society, we have come to equate slick campaigns with worthiness so that those who don't have the dough really don't have an effective voice.

Posted by Becky at June 27, 2006 01:52 PM