Capped Contributions

Campaign Finance Reform on the Horizon as Congress Considers Optional Public Financing

The only news on this today so far is covering Sam Waterston's involvement with the plan, but word on the street is that on Wednesday, Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) will be releasing a proposal to overhaul campaign contributions in a voluntary program titled the "Fair Elections Now Act," that would make congressional elections ::gasp:: fair.

Amidst discussions about the interplay between legislators' response to AIG's needs (as well as other government entities) and AIG's previous campaign contributions, it has come finally to the center of some legislators' attention (and more importantly their legislative agenda's) that it is time to begin reforming campaign finance for Congress. Of course, there is also discussion about reforming the presidential campaign finance system, a system already in place that was famously rejected by Barack Obama in his 2008 election for president because he was outraising his competitor by vast margins (insert random article talking about Obama's rejecting of public finance here).

Obama's Money
McCain's Money

What will this new legislation mean for our elections? Potentially, if widely accepted by congressional candidates (as the system is voluntary), the following could come from this system:

1. Electeds beholden only to their electorate - money raised by campaigns must come from their state. Currently, candidates can accept money from all over, meaning the means for election (the media and communications necessary to win an election) can come from all over the country, where special interest can influence a state's electeds with money.
2. A potential decrease in negative campaigning - with a limited campaign war chest for elections, candidate's will be more likely to focus on their positive message, rather than focusing on the negative message regarding their opponent(s).
3. Better Legislation - with elected officials that are in office because they are good for the people, rather than the system, legislative priorities will shift - lending to a government that will not provide a safety net for incompetent or dangerous companies that are hurting our people now (read here: the AIG / Banking Fiasco).

I will say that with regards to the final point above, I do believe that original loosening of the restrictions on banking was done with the best of intentions for the government and its people, but that the continual deregulation that led to this ridiculous current position of our financial system could have been avoided had that deregulation been stopped (which more legislators - not beholden to financial lobbyist - might have fought).

Anyway, long and short of it is this:
If we truly see a campaign finance reform system presented on Wednesday that is actually palatable to congressional candidates, we may have the opportunity for the people to recapture their lost government; leading to a renaissance of government that could catapult us into a new era. This may be an idealistic, or even idiotic belief, but I am content to play a fool if the potential for a reformed and truly democratic republic is possible.

I wish we were organizing tea parties around this issue rather than the budget...

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Today's Suggested Reading
I just started this book today but it is already turning out to be fantastic in the first 75 pages. This account of human history is along the lines of Jared Diamond in its excellent depiction of the human development arc.
NonZero: The Logic of Human Destiny
Robert Wright