State view: Time to cap contributions flowing from special interests By: Mike Dean, Duluth News Tribune For 12 weeks we have watched in horror as oil from a British Petroleum well spewed into the Gulf of Mexico at a huge cost to the economy and environment. But oil isn't the only thing that has been spewing.Oil-slicked money has been flowing into Washington, D.C., in an attempt to gain influence for BP and the rest of the oil industry. According to recent data from the Center for Responsive Politics, the oil and gas industry spent $174 million lobbying Congress in 2009 alone. That investment in lobbying and campaign contributions has seemed to result in huge returns for the companies. President Obama even admitted that the industry had a "scandalously close relationship" with government regulators. The corruption that has taken place under the watch of the Minerals Management Services, or MMS, has indeed been a shameful spectacle. That relationship allowed oil companies to successfully defeat new safety regulations proposed last year by MMS to address growing safety concerns. The Gulf Coast is now paying the price. The MMS is not alone in enjoying a cozy relationship with the oil industry. The industry extends similar treatment to members of Congress. And, as history shows, the oil industry is not shy about calling upon such relationships during times of crisis. One needs only to look at watered-down legislation passed after the last big oil spill in the U.S., the Exxon Valdez disaster. That legislation capped liability for oil companies at a shockingly low $75 million. At a time when oil companies are experiencing record profits while treating safety and environmental concerns with thinly veiled contempt, this number reflects the travesty of what can happen when special interests get in bed with the legislative branch. The cost of BP's Gulf oil spill has quickly exceeded that cap. And while Congress is discussing legislation to lift that cap and implement environmental safeguards, the oil industry has launched an aggressive campaign to fight new regulations. The sad fact is that, under the status quo, the industry probably will be successful because of the power its greasy dollar bills wield over elected officials in Washington. Our broken political system makes politicians accountable to the corporations and lobbyists who finance their campaigns rather than to the people who elected them. It's time Americans had their voices heard. In the wake of the Gulf Coast oil disaster, it is time we take our government back. There is simply too much at stake. In the next few weeks, Congress is to consider the Fair Elections Now Act, which would allow candidates to run for office on small donor contributions and limited public money rather than relying on wealthy "bundlers" to fill their campaign coffers with special-interest money. U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., should become a co-sponsor of the Fair Elections Now Act to make Congress accountable to us. Not since the days of Watergate has the public been so disillusioned with government. The problem with our political system isn't so much that individual members of Congress are corrupt but that the system is corrupt. Sure, there are bad apples in the barrel, but the real problem is that the barrel is rotting. No matter how honest members of Congress are, when their ability to get elected depends on collecting millions of dollars from special interests, there's no way they can be objective. Without the Fair Elections Now Act, the deluge of money coming from oil companies won't be able to be stopped. It's time we take the "for sale" sign off our government so it works again for ordinary Americans. Mike Dean is executive director of Common Cause Minnesota, a citizen lobbying group based in Minneapolis. He wrote this exclusively for the News Tribune.