"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy."
- Ernest Benn (also attributed to Groucho Marx)
I mentioned the huge campaign contribution of George Soros in one of my posts last week. Now I see that another billionaire has ponied up $12 million of his fortune to help defeat Bush in 2004. Dean Esmay at Dean's World links to the Cleveland Plain Dealer story. Read Dean's comments, then click on his link to the Plain Dealer.
These wealthy contributors are skirting campaign finance reform laws by donating to outside activist organizations. There's a well-written article about this loophole on The Texas A&M website. Money quote:
"Supporters...promised it would 'get money out of politics.' It hasn't. To the contrary, it has merely transferred power from our mostly responsible, accountable political parties to unaccountable, sometimes mysterious interest groups, frequently with narrow ideological perspectives."
I don't believe this reflects the spirit of the new law, but now we're stuck with it--at least until someone decides it should be repealed. I'd wager that won't be a Democrat.
Both parties have over 50 surrogate organizations that may accept large donations of "soft money," and those working on behalf of the Democrats are bringing in 12 times more dollars than those supporting the GOP. Ironically, when the legislation was being debated, it was the Democrats who said they wanted to remove the corrupting influence of big contributions. Now, it appears they're becoming the greatest beneficiaries of the very thing they denounced.
3 comments:
Excellent! The campaign finance reform law was ill conceived when it was signed. Like so many other quick cures, it is just as bad as the disease!
Great Post, Ron. Looks like Democrats are replacing Republicans as the party of the rich. Do they think these rich benefactors won't call in favors if they win with this money?
If you look at the money going directly to the candidates, most of Bush's contributors gave the $2000 limit. The Democrats, with the exception of Al Sharpton, are getting more, but much smaller contributions.
Campaign financing can work, but the Democrats shot themselves in the foot with the McCain-Feingold bill. It kills soft money, the Democrat's strong suit. I would bet the GOP will be taking advantage of this loophole too, and probably with better results...
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