A New Rallying Cry for Reform
New York Times
Editorial
January 22, 2002
Congress returns from its
winter break tomorrow to
take up the defense of democracy
against terrorism. Lawmakers
would do well to note that American democracy is also
being attacked from within by a poisonous system of
unregulated campaign donations. There is no better
illustration of the system's destructiveness than the fact
that the attorney general has had to recuse himself from
his department's investigation of Enron because Enron
gave his campaigns a lot of money. Members of Congress
find themselves in the same fix, and some are returning
their Enron donations. Enron's vast contributions have
already corrupted decision-making on tax cuts, energy
policy and financial regulations. Now they threaten to
hamper the investigation into one of the biggest business
scandals in American history.
There is one way that Congress can begin to cleanse itself
of the Enron mess. That is to make the Shays-Meehan
campaign finance reform bill its top priority. The bill, like
a companion measure that has passed the Senate, seeks
to close the "soft money" loophole that has allowed
millions of dollars from corporations, unions and rich
individuals to overwhelm and corrupt the campaign
finance system. The Enron scandal has made the
importance of that bill plainer than ever.
Aides to President Bush assert that since no one in the
administration seems to have tried to rescue Enron,
Enron's campaign money cannot be an issue. That is
nonsense. In the last election cycle, Enron was one of the
nation's biggest donors. The company and its executives
doled out $2.4 million, more than two-thirds of it in
unregulated soft money. What the administration fails to
see is that, as Representative Christopher Shays points
out, campaign money is given to obtain two things,
influence and access. Enron clearly got what it paid for. Its
executives were able to get through on the phone to
virtually everyone they wanted.
Although Enron did not get everything it wanted from Vice
President Dick Cheney's energy task force, the
administration's regulatory policies were tailored to
Enron's specifications. Last year's economic stimulus bill
contained a tax break estimated at $250 million for the
company.
The issue, though, is not Enron. It is the whole system. It
used to be that corporate contributions and direct union
contributions to candidates were illegal. Then in the
1980's, politicians discovered the soft-money loophole,
through which donations could flow to parties instead of
candidates. Soft money, which includes unlimited
donations by rich Americans, has totally debased the
system. Everyone in Congress knows it. The ban
sponsored by Mr. Shays and Representative Martin
Meehan of Massachusetts commands overwhelming
support of the House. Speaker Dennis Hastert broke his
promise last year to bring it to the floor for a fair vote. Now
supporters of the legislation are within two signatures on
a petition to force it to the floor. They should succeed
before the end of the month.
When Shays-Meehan gets to the floor, House members
have to gird themselves for a tough, insidious battle by
opponents. Tom DeLay of Texas, the House whip and
probable future majority leader, is already making plans
to gut it with amendments that would weaken the bill or
repel supporters. He is also promoting a sham alternative
sponsored by Representative Bob Ney, an Ohio
Republican, that would allow vast sums of soft money to
keep flowing. Lawmakers should see those tactics for what
they are. Tom DeLay is practically Mr. Enron in Congress.
His Texas district is near the company's headquarters. He
has raised money from Enron for himself, the Republican
Party and advocate groups, in return backing energy
deregulation, the company's favorite issue.
The Enron scandal has made consideration of
Shays-Meehan imperative. Lawmakers should not think
that the voters will be fooled if they try to weaken it. And
Mr. Bush, never a big fan of campaign finance reform,
should recognize the obvious — that if he steps up and
leads the fight, he could help cleanse his own
administration of the taint of influence-peddling. All of
Washington has been blackened by Enron's shameful
conduct. Campaign finance reform is the path back to
respectability.
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