Dwight, on campaign finance reform, Linda Smith isn't the only person fighting for it. My neighbor (well, 1/2 mile away) Senator Russ Feingold was co-sponsor with the honorable John McCain of the previously most visible attempt to get something moving. Newt, as I've said before, at one point said the problem was we needed more campaign money, not less. Or maybe just "reform" that attacked traditional Democratic sources, and left Republicans alone. As if the balance didn't already tip far the other way. I totally agree that our current ever-running campaign financing machine is deeply corrosive. And there's no more cynical political spectacle anywhere than all the people in congress paying lip service to reform, while hoping the leadership will keep any meaningful effort quietly bottled up.
The current campaign finance investigations are very one sided too, of course. Not that I will defend Clinton, but foreign money is nothing new. George Bush didn't need Chinese contributions to know when to kowtow. His experience as ambassador to Beijing served him well.
Of course, Bush and Clinton together couldn't hold a candle to Henry Kissinger on sucking up to China, but that's another story. Does anybody like Henry Kissinger? He sure shows up on TV a lot.
Cheers, Dan. |
