Greg Freeman: What If They Sold The Government And Nobody Cared? P-D 6/15/1999

Headline: WHAT IF THEY SOLD THE GOVERNMENT AND NOBODY CARED?
Reporter: By Greg Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Tue., Jun. 15, 1999
Section: METRO, Page: B1, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

For Sale: One government, used but in fair condition. Lobbyists welcome.
Price: Negotiable.

In the days when I covered City Hall, the other reporters and I often joked that St. Louis had the best politicians money could buy.
In reality, that phrase could easily be extended to St. Louis County, St. Clair County, Missouri, Illinois and the nation's capital.

The latest proof of the fact that government is for sale is found in a study by a professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield. The report, by Professor Kent Redfield, tells us something that we've known all along: It's possible to buy legislation, as long as you've got plenty of money. Donations get you plenty of access and attention.
   Money doesn't just talk: In Congress and in many legislative halls around the country it votes as well.
   Redfield's study showed that proponents of riverboat gambling and horse racing in Illinois put $1 million over the last two years into the campaign funds of state legislators who voted for a package of gambling laws that barely passed the Legislature last month.
   That, according to the study, was more than 10 times the $83,460 given to legislators who voted against the gambling package.

Of course, pro-gambling interests aren't the only ones who throw money around to lobby for things they want. The National Rifle Association, the tobacco lobby, labor unions, big business PACs -- everyone gets into the act.

Everyone, that is, except the average person, the man or woman who goes to the polls every election and votes.
Those folks expect those they elect to represent them when go to City Hall, to Clayton, to Jefferson City, to Springfield, to Washington.
They don't expect them to consort with lobbyists and take big money to vote their way.

In a nation where, supposedly, "all men are created equal, " all men aren't treated equal.
Those with the bucks speak with the loudest voices.
Those without them often aren't heard at all.

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. I doubt most of those elected to office for the first time make raising money their first priority. They go to represent voters on particular issues.
   But when they get there, they think about re-election. And, sadly, in this country, you need money -- and plenty of it -- to get re-elected.
   So if politicians begin voting a particular way -- for tobacco interests, for instance -- the tobacco lobbyists start pumping money into their coffers. If those politicians start voting another way, those donations dry up.
   At that point, some politicians might argue, it becomes a question of survival. Do you wait on the $5 and $10 donations from individual voters? Or do you take the big-dollar donations from the lobbying interests?
   Most choose those big-dollar donations.

Naturally, all politicians aren't this way. There are those who put campaigns together with tape and string. But if those folks were in the majority, the whole issue of campaign financing wouldn't be so troubling.

A real solution is sorely needed for financing campaigns. You can't legally prevent special interests from contributing to campaigns. But perhaps there are other solutions, like establishing rules in Congress and in legislatures that prevent elected officials from voting on any issue from which their campaigns have received funding.
   That's not a perfect solution, obviously. Congress and various legislatures would have to sit down and approve meaningful campaign finance reform.
   Of course, considering that many of those who would vote on such reform would be the same ones who were taking the money in the first place, the only real incentive for reform would have to come from the public.
   And, to be honest, most people are asleep on this issue.
   So not only are most of us happy with the way things are now, most of us seem content to let our government be purchased by the highest bidder.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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