Time to clean up our elections together

Editorial by Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton

A large crowd is expected to rally on the state capitol steps to protest the U.S. Supreme

Court’s action in Citizens United inviting corporations to spend freely in elections. The

Court has been described as “dancing on democracy’s corpse.”

I’m not ready to write the obituary. Too many of us are paying attention now and we’re

ready to fight. A bipartisan poll last week found voters opposed by a 2-1 ratio to the

court’s ruling. 75% of us believe special interests already wield too much influence; 79%

are convinced members of Congress are “controlled by” those who finance their political

campaigns.

The voting public of all political stripes is not ready to go along with those justices who

argued that first amendment rights were not just for human beings, but also attached to

legal fictions known as corporations. While an outcry to amend the U.S. constitution to

fully protect our democracy builds across the nation, we have an elegantly simple, fully

researched strategy at hand that the Wisconsin state legislature could advance right now

to get the “money changers” off the floor of both houses in the capitol.

If we want honest debate – on health care, school funding, global climate change, etc. –

and if we are to have government we can afford, the only sure path leads to a voluntary

system of public funding of campaigns. It is the only way to guarantee our elected representatives can work in the public interest instead bowing to the demands of special

interests.

Voluntary public funding would provide a competitive alternative to the existing private

money system by matching small, in-state donations with public funds for qualifying

candidates who forego large donations. Unlike traditional limits-based campaign finance

regulations, which the current U.S. Supreme Court has treated with escalating

skepticism, voluntary public funding systems add no limits to existing law and instead

expand First Amendment rights by ensuring that money is not the only qualification for

entering political debate.

Voluntary public funding is sure to withstand constitutional scrutiny and strong legislation

is already written, waiting for sponsors to move it forward.

In a democracy defined today by its strong ideological divide, public funding for

campaigns enjoys broad support across partisan lines: a recent poll showed 69% of

Democrats, 64% of Republicans, and 66% of Independents favor the proposal.

If enacted here, Wisconsin would join eight states from Arizona to Maine that currently

offer voluntary public funding to qualifying candidates for state legislative, judicial and

statewide office. Experience across these states shows large majorities of candidates

participate voluntarily; electoral competition, candidate diversity, voter turnout, and small

donor participation increase markedly; and wasteful spending programs directly tied to

private campaign contributions are reduced.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign reported $32.3 million spent on the 2006

governor’s race between the candidates, independent expenditures and issue ads.

Strategists predict that number will reach a stratospheric $50 million this year.

We can’t let that shocking decision of the majority of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court

anthropomorphize big business and relegate human beings to permanent status as

second-class citizens. We can’t afford to wait for change through the long process of a

constitutional amendment. And we can’t think that mere disclosure – putting nametags on those bidding on bills before our legislature – will ensure a healthy democracy.

Let’s turn anger into action: insist Wisconsin’s legislators pass a strong bill for complete

public funding of campaigns so the business of the people may be done with our

confidence and trust that smart public policy will bring government we can afford.