Editorial Memo from Public Campaign and Common Cause

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) reiterated their support for the Fair Elections Now Act today at a standing-room only event at the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C. think tank dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through ideas and action. The policy forum took place as Supreme Court watchers wait for a decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a decision that could expand corporate spending in elections.

“A lot of Senators are taking a look at their states and the money they would need to raise,” said Sen. Durbin, regarding the possible influx of unlimited corporate spending on independent expenditures that the decision by the Roberts Court could allow. “The Citizens United decision will increase interest from Senators in the Fair Elections Now Act.”

The Fair Elections Now Act “would give our members the time they deserve to focus on the issues and their constituents, instead of dialing for dollars,” said Rep. Larson. “We see a great opportunity to pass this bill, and we see Citizens United as part of that backdrop.”

In addition to Rep. Larson, the Fair Elections Now Act has 119 cosponsors in the House of Representatives. The bill would allow qualified congressional candidates to voluntarily participate in a system in which they run for office with a mixture of small donations and limited public funds. Once qualified, these candidates would rely on Main Street instead of Wall Street for contributions.

MOMENTUM FOR REFORM

According to October 2009 polling from the University of Texas-Austin, 58 percent of respondents believe that the source of a candidate’s campaign contributions is a factor in how they vote on legislation. These same respondents also rank themselves last as a consideration when Congressional lawmakers decide how to vote. This mirrors recent Rasmussen polling from July of this year that showed 74 percent of respondents believed a member of Congress would sell their vote for as little as $100,000 in campaign donations. Just eight percent believed it would take more than $100,000 for a politician to sell their vote.

Time and again, polling confirms that the American public sees campaign contributions playing a pivotal role in how lawmakers vote. Congress’ response to the Citizens United vs. FEC decision should be to dramatically change the way we pay for our elections, and not to pass laws that would put even more money into elections.

FAIR ELECTIONS IS THE ANSWER

Tom Friedman, in his regular column in the New York Times, recently wrote that “[money] in politics has become so pervasive that lawmakers have to spend most of their time raising it, selling their souls to those who have it or defending themselves from the smallest interest groups with deep pockets that can trump the national interest.”

In Citizens United – a case that originally challenged whether the provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) limiting outside groups’ spending should also apply to pay-per-view movies -- the Court appears poised to overreach and open a new door for the deepest-pocketed players to spend money on campaigns to elect or defeat candidates.

If the U.S. Supreme Court gives its approval to more corporate influence in politics when it decides in Citizens United in the coming days or weeks, members of Congress will be forced to spend more time raising even more money to respond to potential new attacks. It will make a bad situation worse.

As Sen. Durbin and Rep. Larson said today, the answer isn’t to create additional ways to give corporations more influence in the electoral process. The solution is to pass the Fair Elections Now Act, and allow candidates to run competitive campaigns on small donations and limited public funding. That should be an even more attractive option to members of Congress who want to get off the fundraising treadmill in the wake of a bad decision in Citizens United. Without a strong, voluntary public financing of elections system, candidates will have no choice but to continue to rely on contributions from people and corporations with business before them.

For more information on the Fair Elections Now Act please visit www.fairelectionsnow.org.