June 11, 2011 01:26 AM UTC

Let's Stop the Legalized Bribery

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• by: madmike

I don’t know about you, but I am extremely concerned about the corruptive influence that campaign contributions are having on our political system.  As I see it, our current campaign finance system amounts to nothing more than legalized bribery.  So I am writing with a question, and perhaps a suggestion, about another way to approach the problem.

What I see happening right now is a battle between those who think there need to be limits placed on the donors and the recipients of campaign donations.  The idea is to stem the flow of cash going to politicians.  This is countered by those who think that such limits represent a curb on their “freedom of speech.”  And, in light of the recent Citizens United decision, it appears that they are winning the debate.

My question to you is, has anyone tried approaching this problem from a different direction – as a matter of ethics?  It seems to me that when a politician accepts campaign donations from a group or individual and then turns around and votes on issues that directly affect that group or individual, that represents unethical behavior.  So my proposal would be this.  Through the ballot initiative process, pass a law that requires a politician to recuse himself from voting on any issue that would have a direct impact on the interests of a campaign donor.  In fact, I would go so far as to make it a felony if they don’t.  This would immediately dry up the amount of special interest money pouring into campaign coffers and pave the way for public funding of elections.  It’s a simple idea that would be very effective in curbing the corruptive influence of money in politics.  In fact, just this week I watched as our own senator, Michael Bennet, someone who has taken large amounts of campaign money from Wall Street banks, vote to continue to allow banks to charge excessive debit card fees that ultimately hurt middle class Americans.  Had such ethics legislation been in effect, he would not have been allowed by law to do so.

I would appreciate hearing from you about this idea.  Please understand that I have absolutely no experience in these matters.  I’m simply a retired guy with time to think about the terrible direction that I see our country heading and would like to do something about it.  It seems to me that we may not be able to limit the cash going into the system, but we can limit the votes going out.

Whether you tend to lean to the left or to the right, I look  forward to hearing from you.

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