With the general public mood favoring reform of the electoral system in general, the popular Republican Senator is pushing to expand limitations on political contributions. Considering Democrats tend to favor the soft money ban the McCain-Feingold bill proposes and Republicans are wary of going against what seemed to be popular support for such reform during the primary elections, this legislation seems closer to passing than ever. Whatever good intentions may lie behind it, this is a bad bill. Some believe that Republicans oppose it because the ban on soft money would hurt them more than the Democrats, whose ideological allies are better organized and are capable of a greater scope of independent action than Republican allies. It may be true that the Republicans oppose this purely for partisan advantage, but that does not mean that this is not a bad bill.
Many people think that money is the root of all evil, that it dirties everything it touches.
If only money could be eliminated from the political process, then our politicians would become the wise stewards of our government, unswayed by special interests, that we all envision in our ideal system. I hate to tell you, but that's not going to happen. For one, political contributions are hardly the only cause of bad government. Additionally, the flow of money to help politicians is like a river, swelling larger and larger and attaining a force more and more irresistible as the government takes more prerogative and politicians can provide more favors and protection to their friends. This flow of cash is irresistible, and should not so much be blocked as it should be managed.