Proposition 89 is one of the freshest, most important, and most groundbreaking initiatives to come along in the last 25 years, and Phil Angelides, in an act of political courage, supports it. His opponent does not, because it would be a major blow to the special interests that control this state and this country through kickbacks and payouts.
I want you to look at their latest ad. It was created by Bill Hillsman.
More on the flip.
We have a political culture, deeply institutionalized for decades if not centuries, that disqualifies 99.9% of society from running for public office. You either need to be ingratiating and sleazy enough to rake in millions of dollars or obscenely rich enough to give it to yourself. Elected officials spend upwards of ten hours a day on the phone raising money. Issues, positions, personality and character are all a sidelight to phrases like "Is he competitive financially?" and "How much cash on hand does he have?" In California politics (and, I'd gather, in national politics) (s)he who has the most money wins:
(h/t to the Prop 89 Blog)
I don't know if you guys have noticed, but this past week the culture of corruption has made a comeback. Between Bob Ney's conviction, Ken Mehlman having people fired for Jack Abramoff, the former head of the FDA about to plead guilty to lying about stock holdings, and practically everyone Curt Weldon knows having their house raided by the FBI, GOP corruption is rearing its ugly head.
An Object Lesson
But as Michael Kinsley famously said, what's shocking isn't what's illegal, but what's legal. In the first of a four-part series, the Lexington Herald-Leader reveals what type of politician gets ahead in today's environment. This damning profile of the man who, if the Republicans keep the Senate, would become MAJORITY LEADER is instructive:
In the early 1970s, Addison Mitchell McConnell Jr., a young and intense Republican lawyer, strode into the political science class he taught at the University of Louisville.
He didn't introduce himself to his students. He went straight to the chalkboard and scribbled.
"I am going to teach you the three things you need to build a political party," he said, and backed away to reveal the words: "Money, money, money." [...]
A six-month examination of McConnell's career, based on thousands of documents and scores of interviews, shows the nexus between his actions and his donors' agendas. He pushes the government to help cigarette makers, Las Vegas casinos, the pharmaceutical industry, credit card lenders, coal mine owners and others.
Critics, including anti-poverty groups and labor unions, complain that McConnell has come to represent his affluent donors at the expense of Kentucky, the relatively poor state he is supposed to represent. They point, for example, to his support last year for a tough bankruptcy law, backed by New York banks that support him.
McConnell plays by the ugly money rules in Washington, and he threatens retribution against any attempt to sensibly change the rules. And it doesn't matter what side of the aisle you're on, if you're against paying to play:
In 1998, Rep. Linda Smith, R-Wash., challenged first-term Democratic Sen. Patty Murray. McConnell's job as NRSC chairman was to assist GOP Senate campaigns. But Smith called for campaign-finance reform and assailed "the old boys and the old establishment." McConnell limited her funds to about $17,000, while others received hundreds of thousands of dollars. Smith was defeated.
"We ended up with no money to put on any kind of TV or radio advertising," Dale Foreman, who was chairman of the Washington state Republican Party, said recently. McConnell gave him a frosty reception when he flew east to plead Smith's case, Foreman said.
"He clearly had strong opinions on campaign-finance reform, and anyone who disagreed with him, Republican or not, was not going to get any help," Foreman said.
So Mitch continues to shill, particuarly for Big Tobacco, who has lavished gifts upon him ranging in the millions. In fact, all this moneymaking takes up most of his time.
Pressed for time, McConnell regularly skips daily Senate business. In 2005, for example, he missed 83 percent of his assigned committee hearings about government spending and agriculture. He said it's "absurd" to question the hearings he misses, given his busy leadership schedule. "Every day is a series of choices about how to spend your time," he said.
However, he attends myriad receptions in Washington and around the country. These events are scheduled by McConnell's fund-raising office, run by former banking lobbyist Alison Crombie Kinnahan out of a corporate lobbying firm a quick walk down the street from McConnell's Capitol office.
McConnell says his coast-to-coast collections are appropriate because he is no longer a mere Kentucky politician. He is "a United States senator."
It should be mentioned that McConnell's wife, spouse of the man who never shows up for work, is the US Labor Secretary.
A Ray of Hope
Though it seems hopeless, there is a way to break this cycle, to enable the potential for citizen legislators untainted by big money donations, to make any candidate or any ballot initiative in the state competitive, to level the playing field and return government to the people. If you don't believe it can work, take a visit to beautiful Arizona and Maine. Here are some facts from 10 years of clean elections in The Pine Tree State:
Clean Money was an immediate success in Maine. One-third of the state's legislators took office on December 6, 2000 without ties to special interest money. Challengers, who were only able to spend 54 cents for every dollar spent by an incumbent in 1998, before public financing was available, were able to close that gap dramatically in 2000. Overall, private campaign spending in Maine was cut in half.
Participating candidates gave the system rave reviews. In a survey conducted by the Maine Citizen Leadership Fund, 99% of candidates said they were "reasonably satisfied" or "very satisfied" with it.
Results got even better in 2002, as participation in the Clean Elections system increased across the board:
* The number of candidates running clean nearly doubled over 2000.
* The number of Republican candidates running clean nearly tripled over 2000.
* 55% of Maine's legislature is made up of members elected clean.
* 77% of Maine's Senate is made up of members elected clean.
* Voter turnout increased by 5% over 1998.
State government runs better when people who are unbought and unbossed populate the legislature. We all know that in California, as it is elsewhere, the state capital is overrun with lobbyists who use the Assembly and the Senate as their personal money-printing facility, getting hundreds of millions in corporate welfare for their clients and valuing Big Business over the average citizen. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a pledge to get the money out of politics, saying that he had plenty of money and couldn't be bought. He's taken 90 MILLION from special interests since that time.
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If this initiative were financed with payroll taxes, it would still result in a net positive in the average Californian's budget, as the ability to provide affordable health care and lower school tuitions and more goods and services as a consequence of eliminating corporate welfare would dramatically increase. But Proposition 89 is actually financed through a %0.2 increase in the corporate tax rate, returning the rate back to where it was in the Wilson and Reagan Administrations. Ultimately a more prosperous California, a California more attractive to potential residents, will be a more rewarding California for businesses to profit in (as was the entire country in the 1990s).
Clean money elections WORK. Anyone who can raise a certain number of $5 contributions from voters to prove their viability can qualify. They then receive full public funding, allowing them to campaign and speak to voters about issues. They get to ask voters what they want, and tell voters what they would do, instead of having to beg voters for what they NEED to stay competitive. It limits spending for candidates who opt out of public financing so that the playing field is leveled.
Most important, as we all know California is an incubator. Progressive policy bubbles up from here. That's why it's crucial we get it passed and continue the wave of Clean Money legislation across the country.
These are the facts on Proposition 89. If you believe that the political system is broken, if you believe that you're constantly voting for the lesser of two evils, you need to say yes to Proposition 89 and strike a powerful note for change in this state and this country.