BuffaloNews
Buffalo
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial-page/from-our-readers/another-voice/article360403.ece
I have not encountered a thinking person over the last few years who does not believe that our political system in this country needs to be changed.
It has become obvious that the way people are elected to office influences the policy decisions that they make after they take their oath. This view is held by left-wing liberals as well as right-wing tea party activists and everyone in between.
I believe strongly that it is time to reevaluate and change the way people are elected to office. It is time to recognize that the way campaigns raise money actually increases governmental spending and needlessly increases our debt.
Campaign finance reform would allow voters, not big money donors, to once again own our democracy. By allowing matching funds after candidates have shown that they are legitimate by getting a number of small donations, we will be taking the power out of the hands of lobbyists and corporations that currently control many elected officials.
The power will be returned to the people, in whose hands it truly belongs. There will be more accountability by elected officials to the very constituents who helped them get to where they are.
There is a big advantage in public financing for those who want to do the right thing and run for office but are not independently wealthy or have deep connections to those in the industry. It could give them a viable chance of winning.
How many times have you met an enthusiastic young professional who had the ideas and spirit that you believed would change things for the better if they were to run for office? And then how many times have you thought, but they won’t win because they don’t have the money?
Publicly financed campaigns would change that, and that may be the biggest threat to the elected officials who would have to vote on whether to allow public financing of elections.
Yes, there would be a budget line dedicated to funding campaigns. That seems odd today; it seems like it adds to the problem of state spending.
But if you think it through to the next step, it becomes apparent that a small increase to fund campaigns will lead to a big decrease in needless spending — spending that the general public does not support or want.
Spending that is dictated by the individuals and corporations demanding lucrative contracts from those they supported financially during campaign season. It’s a classic case of pay now or pay later.
Public financing of campaigns is an idea whose time has come. Let’s let the voters own the elections, not the donors.
Nicole M. Jowsey is chairwoman of the board of the Western New York Region of Citizen Action of New York.
