Dan,
The law should be that anyone can give any amount they desire, so long as it's publicly accounted- thus the voters would have the info. in plain view to judge.
In principle, I agree that it is your fundamental right to give anything you want to anyone, and if we had an informed or caring population, full disclosure would be all that is necessary. The public could see the political results (favors, tax law changes, etc) which congress gives to their contributors. Corruption would be evident and the voters could express their dissatisfaction at the polls.
Unfortunately, that isn't the way it is in fin de siŠcle America. We have an electorate which is either uninformed or doesn't give a damn, as witness the big yawn about Whitewater, FBI file intrusion, campaign finance crimes, etc.
So I reluctantly conclude that it would be more straightforward just to limit personal or corporate contributions to something the average guy could afford. I chose $100 arbitrarily. But it would be important also to not permit any larger contributions to parties, i.e., "soft money" which is now permitted.
Such a simple step, in my view, would effectively wipe out corruption in government. No more tax loopholes or special treatment for contributors. Our representatives could do what they actually believe in and maybe stop passing so damn many laws.
Jack |
