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7/14/2009
Burri: Smaller government = instant campaign reform

There’s a lot of money in politics. A lot of money raised, donated, spent. According to OpenSecrets.org, federal candidates raised over $3.2 billion in 2008. Fifty 527s raised and spent about $230 million. The top 100 donors gave almost $304 million combined.

It's a lot. But.

I’d expected to be more scandalized. Emotionally, anyway. Intellectually, I know that’s not really so much. In 2001, Americans spent nearly $450 million on diet books. Something like $12 billion at health clubs. Ten years ago, we spent $1.9 billion on Halloween candy, and only slightly less on Easter candy. In 2007, we spent $10.8 billion on movies, and $11.6 billion on video games.

So: is it really such a scandal that we spend a few billion on politics?

On the other hand, all that money mustinfluence policymakers. In fact, we know that it does: Jim Doyle and Indian casinos, just to pull an example randomly out of nowhere.

Political contributions give some people more influence than others. That isn’t right. It isn’t fair. It goes against our tradition of political equality: one man, one vote.

The problem, though: what do we do about it? We have a right to influence our government. How do we justify limiting that? Because that’s what campaign finance reform comes down to: limiting the individual right to take part. To influence government.

And even if we can ignore that little truth, we can’t ignore this one: no amount of campaign finance reform will ever work. Not for long.

Ask yourself: why do people, companies, organizations spend so much money on elections?

Not because they want to, but because they have to.

Because government can do things. For you, or to you. They can pass laws…or fail to pass laws. Or simply talk about passing a law. Or they – any small handful of bureaucrats infesting any little nest of cubicles – can reinterpret paragraph jj of subsection 43b of volume LXIV of the administrative code. Or not.

And these things can make the difference between profit and loss; investment and divestment; expansion and going out of business. Government actions – even small ones – can have vast impact on individual lives. It can have vast impact on business.

Government has power.

And if that doesn’t change, neither will the money. No matter how we try to “reform” campaign finance, people with millions and billions riding on this or that legislation or rule will find a way to have an influence. And they’ll start by making sure we don’t reform campaign finance, because to do so would restrict their own power to protect themselves from – or enrich themselves by – their own government.

Of course, if government didn’t reach quite so far – if government didn’t have quite so much power to infect and infest our lives right down to the capillaries – there would be less reason to spend billions, or millions, or even thousands trying to influence government. All that money and effort – both of those who seek influence and those who complain about it – could be put to better use.

I know what you're thinking: what about the special interests that want a big, strong, invasive government? Who want government to have power over the minutiae of our lives?

They're out there, and if government gets smaller, they'll step up their games. Spend even more to increase government's pull.

It's ironic: big-government interests are overwhelmingly liberal. And campaign finance reformers are overwhelmingly – not universally, but overwhelmingly – liberal.

They want Big Daddy Government, and then they act surprised when people do all they can to be Daddy's favorite.

Lance Burri is a contributor to the Badger Blog Alliance and The TrogloPundit.

COMMENTS

Pardon the pun, but Lance is right on the money. The poster child for a failed attempt at campaign finance reform is our favorite curmugeon, John "Palin lost the election for me" McCain. While he stubbornly clung to his own financial concoction, The One went out and reaped thousands, perhaps millions, from people with names like "Love You," and from countries that are generally considered to be our adversaries. Campaign finance reform doesn't work!

Smaller government, and government that is in accord with our Constitution, can work just as it has worked prior to FDR's modification of the American Governmental Model. I'll gladly support, financially and in any other way I can, candidates for office that campaign on a platform of "taking apart the federal government."

We need to eliminate more than half of the bureaus, cabinets and agencies that rule our lives today by fiat. Those unelected wielders of power that are known primarily by just three initials, i.e., "EPA," "IRS," etc. The Founders of our nation never envisioned the massive takeover of the free will of the American people by an over-arching national government. In fact, they feared it.

Perhaps the end of the two-party system, with both parties being basically identical in their approach to federal and world control of our country is almost over. More on this as the Governor of Alaska decides what the new party will be called.

Duke (Tue Jul 14 08:29:01 2009)

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