We also are aware that state laws restricting local anti-smoking ordinances are a favorite tactic of the tobacco lobby. Industry lobbyists know that statewide smoking bans are very difficult to pass, but local ordinances are being adopted in some communities. If they can prevent those local laws from taking effect, they can protect their profits for a while longer. We urge legislators not to let them get away with it. The problem is that the McCain-Feingold bill, which just passed in the U.S. Senate and may actually get enacted into law, is trying to stop the runaway train by throwing some lead weights off the caboose.
Good brakes are what are needed.
The McCain-Feingold bill bans soft money and regulates issue ads. Soft money is unrestricted contributions to political parties. Issue ads are political advertising carefully designed to avoid regulation and disclosure because they discuss issues and do not directly call for a certain vote. McCain-Feingold can t stop the runaway train of our system of political fund raising because it does not fundamentally shift political fund raising in our country. It is still a step forward, but we need to do more.