The Clean Election Act is dirty business
By Warner M. Montgomery
Warner@TheColumbiaStar.com

The Kumbayah Liberals are at it again. Becci Robbins of the S.C. Progressive Network is proposing a Clean Elections Act (www.sc.pronet.com) to stop government corruption. This throw- the- baby- out- with- the- bath- water idea is designed to take away your freedom of expression and your right to support the candidate of your choice.

They say the act will "clean up" politics by allowing candidates to fund their campaigns with public money rather than private donations. In other words, once again, the government will force you to do something you don't want to do. This time, your tax money will go to finance the campaigns of candidates you might not want elected. The government already forces you to pay for things you might not support - schools, rock concerts, corporate subsidies, homeless centers - so why not politicians?

The enemy, so their argument goes, is special interest money ("The biggest threat to our democracy"). Their solution is to take away the citizens' right to donate to candidates and place control of campaigns in the hands of government. It is hard to imagine our legislators "cleaning up" their act by taking charge of campaign money. Why would we give control over campaigns to those who benefit from its corruption? Democrats and Republicans will never open the campaign money gates to other parties, and they will surely place restrictions on the money to benefit themselves and their parties.

The S.C. Progressive Network claims states that have passed a Clean Elections Act now have more voters, more diverse candidates, less partisan bickering, and less corruption. I doubt it. They definitely have more legislative control over campaigns and less freedom for the tax- paying voter.

The more effective solution to government corruption is in tighter campaign donation laws, more effective enforcement, and most importantly, open access to all activities by candidates and elected officials. The Freedom of Information Acts are a good start to making public what public officials do. Corrupt officials can run, but with private citizens and the media on their case, they cannot hide.

Every candidate should know that any money they receive is open to public scrutiny. Every elected official should know that their every act, every donation, and every vote is published and available for examination.

Shining light on the campaign process will do much more to end corruption than to turn the process over to government. A fox cannot guard a hen house.