Campaign Finance Essay
"It's not 'we, the people,' but political action committees and moneyed interests who
are setting the nation's political agenda and are influencing the position of the
candidates on the important issues of the day."
Barry Goldwater
A recent CBS news/New York Times poll found that 70% of Americans believe
lobbyists bribing members of Congress is the way things work. Fifty seven percent
thinks at least half of the members of Congress accept bribes or gifts that affect their
votes. A Fox News poll reported that sixty five percent believe most elected officials in
Washington make policy decisions or take actions on the basis of campaign
contributions. Findings like these underscore the fact that ordinary people believe their
bonds with democracy are not only stretched but sundered.
The fact that liberty depended on honest elections was of the utmost importance to
the patriots who founded our nation and wrote the Constitution. They knew that
corruption destroyed the prime requisite of Constitutional liberty, an independent
legislature free from any influence other than that of the people...representative
government assumes that elections will be controlled by the citizenry at large, not by
those who give the most money. Electors must believe their vote counts. Elected
officials must owe their allegiance to the people, not to their own wealth or to the
wealth of interest groups who speak only for the selfish fringes of the whole
community.
Bill Moyer
Using the SIRS database, available from the St. Mary’s library, search for Campaign
Finance Reform. Read the articles and compose an essay analyzing the problem and
proposing a detailed solution such as do nothing, pass legislation requiring disclosure of all
sources of money or public funding of elections. Submit via Turnitin: class ID: 7487535
Question: Is there a need for stricter guidelines in campaign financing?