SENTIENT TIMES Dec/Jan 2001
Clean
Money: Campaign Finance Reform
By John Moyers
"Clean Money" campaign reform (CMCR) is an innovative model
for comprehensive campaign finance reform. It is now the law that governs
elections in Maine, Massachusetts, Arizona and Vermont. Ballot initiatives
slated for this fall give voters in two states, Missouri and Oregon, a
chance to decide if they want similar reforms. The model was developed
by Washington, D.C.-based Public Campaign. Following is an excerpt from
http://www.publicampaign.org/
that describes it.
Voters agree that campaigns are too expensive, special interests have
too much influence, good candidates without money or connections to special
interests don't have a fair chance of competing for office and politicians
spend too much time raising campaign money instead of devoting their full
energies to the duties of public office.
Clean money campaign reform addresses the most serious problems that concern
voters:
- Campaigns
are too expensive. CMCR limits campaign spending.
- Too much
special-interest influence. CMCR prohibits special-interest contributions
to participating candidates.
- Candidates
and lawmakers spend too much time chasing money. CMCR eliminates need
for fundraising.
- Good people don't have a fair chance to compete. CMCR provides a financially level playing field.
- There are too many loopholes. CMCR offers a comprehensive package to tighten loopholes.
CMCR is strictly
voluntary, in keeping with Supreme Court rulings, but the proposal provides
strong incentives for candidates to participate in the CMCR system. CMCR
candidates who voluntarily reject private money and limit their spending
receive a set amount of Clean Money from a publicly financed fund. Clean
Money Campaign Reform represents the most comprehensive and far-reaching
approach to election finance. While no two CMCR bills are exactly the
same, the overall approach embodies:
-The strictest curbs on special-interest money and influence. CMCR bans
the use of "soft money" to influence elections, discourages
electioneering efforts masquerading as non-electoral "issue campaigns,"
provides additional funding to Clean Money candidates targeted by independent
expenditures, and, most important of all, allows candidates to reject
private contributions if they agree to participate in the CMCR system.
-The greatest reduction in the cost of campaigns. CMCR eliminates the
need for fundraising expenses and provides (to federal candidates) a substantial
amount of free and discounted TV and/or radio time, while requiring candidates
to spend less on campaigns than under any other reform proposal.
-The most competitive and fair election financing. By providing limited
but equal funding for qualified candidates, and additional funding for
CMCR candidates if they are outspent by non-participating opponents, CMCR
enables qualified individuals to run for office on a financially level
playing field regardless of their economic status or access to large contributors.
-An end to the money chase, shorter elections, and stronger enforcement.
Clean Money Campaign Reform frees candidates and elected officials from
the burden of continuous fundraising and thus allows public officials
to spend their time on their real duties. In effect, it also shortens
the length of campaigns, when the public is bombarded with broadcast ads
and mass mailings, by limiting the period during which candidates receive
their funding. Moreover, it strengthens the enforcement and investigative
authority of election commissions.
How Clean Money Campaign Reform Works
The CMCR approach is designed to provide a clear alternative to the current
system of raising and spending largely special-interest money to finance
election campaigns. It allows qualified candidates to run for public office
without compromising their independence since they won't have to ask for
money from those with a vested interest in public policy. The system is
completely voluntary and candidates who do not wish to participate are
able to raise and spend private money for their campaigns, as they do
today.
Qualification: Candidates first must meet ballot access requirements,
and then must meet the eligibility threshold for Clean Money funding.
Most CMCR proposals require candidates to collect, during a pre-defined
qualifying period, a prescribed number of signatures and $5 qualifying
contributions from registered voters in their state or district. To cover
minor costs during the qualifying period, candidates are permitted to
raise a limited amount of seed money from private sources in amounts not
exceeding $100 per contributor.
Primary funding: Candidates who meet CMCR requirements and agree not to
raise or spend private money during the primary and general election campaign
periods receive a set amount of money from the Clean Money fund. Federal
candidates also receive a prescribed amount of free and discounted TV
and/or radio time.
General election funding: Candidates who win their party primaries and
qualifying independent candidates who agree to the voluntary restrictions
receive a set amount of general election funding from the Clean Money
fund, as well as additional free and discounted TV and/or radio time.
Non-participating candidates and independent expenditures: In order to
maintain a financially level playing field, Clean Money candidates who
are outspent by privately financed opponents, or targeted by independent
expenditures, are entitled to a limited amount of matching funds.
Who Backs Clean Money Funding For Campaigns?
A range of people cutting across political, social, and economic lines.
One reflection of the breadth of support for the Clean Money approach
is found in Public Campaign's National Advisory Board. More than 90 notables
and dignitaries have signed on, too, as a show of their support for this
far-reaching reform. They include 21 Republican and Democratic former
members of Congress, six former presidential candidates, and a long list
of high-profile academics, businesspeople, religious activists, and other
leaders in their fields. The most important show of support, however,
is apparent in polling data collected in a number of different states
in mid-1997. A solid majority of voters-Republicans, Democrats, and Independents
alike-said they favored a Clean Money-type proposal. (In Massachusetts
in 1998, 67 percent of voters approved a clean money initiative on the
ballot.)
Clean Money Campaign Reform appeals to so many people because they know
they are the losers under the current system. "The American people
instinctively know that when big money rules, ordinary voters are left
out in the cold," says John Anderson, former congressman and presidential
candidate, and a founding co-chair of Public Campaign's National Advisory
Board. "Our mission is nothing less than to restore our faith in
government and to strengthen our national institutions so that they may
endure and be passed on in good health to our children."
John Moyers is publisher of TomPaine.com, and sits on the board of
Public Campaign, the group that devised the "clean money" campaign
reform model and is assisting grassroots activists working at the state
level to win public support. Public Campaign is a non-profit, non-partisan
organization that supports "Clean Money" campaign finance reform,
a proposal to create public financing for state and federal offices
SENTIENT
TIMES
PO Box 1330 Ashland, OR 97520
PHONE (541) 512-1084 • FAX (541) 512-1085
dmokma@jeffnet.org
