Herald Review - Tired of Money in Politics, Negative Advertising and a Broken Congress?

Op-Ed

By Rep. Rick Nolan

To restore America's confidence in our elections and our government, it's imperative we change the way we do our politics.

Regardless of your political views or the candidates you supported this year, I hope we can all agree on this: while campaigns are rough and tumble, partisan exercises -- that's the nature of democracy -- when campaign season is over, we need to put politics aside, embrace bipartisanship, and focus on the people's business. Otherwise, government will never be the effective, problem-solving instrument the Founders intended it to be.

The good news is that there is plenty of good will and desire for bipartisanship among Republicans and Democrats alike. Most voters would be pleasantly surprised to see how well we personally get along, and actually like each other.

The question is -- how do we transform the idea of bipartisanship into reality, refocus away from endless fundraising, and start getting things done?

It's a two-part answer. First, we need to change the way we campaign by getting rid of outside money. And second, we need to change the way we govern by returning Congress to its own time tested rules of the road.
Make no mistake. Campaigns are expensive and the pressure to raise money is intense. History demonstrates that the candidates who raise the most money usually get the most votes.

That said, negative campaigns financed by outside money and special interests are polluting our airwaves, degrading our candidates, corrupting our public policy, and diluting confidence in our elections system and our government.

Minnesota's Eighth District was the national poster child -- one of the most expensive Congressional races in the country. Some $14 million (Center for Responsive Politics) has already been documented -- with considerably more yet to be reported. And nearly two-thirds of that money came from outside special interests.

If you watched any TV at all this fall, you know that most of that money was spent on negative advertising neither my opponent nor I could legally control or influence. Those ads made many voters angry and discouraged them from showing up at the polls.

It's little wonder that nationwide, only about a third of eligible voters turned out this year. Campaigns are becoming contests to see who can withstand the most mud. We can and must do better.

How? Well, the Constitution grants Congress the power to govern and reform the elections process. When Congress fails to do so -- and it has -- the courts step in. Witness the U.S. Supreme Court's "Citizens United" decision that allowed this flood of unchecked and undocumented outside money into our campaigns by ruling that corporations are "people" and the money they contribute is "free speech." What nonsense.

A number of us in Congress have introduced reform measures, any of which would help fix the system. Taken together, they would produce a true renaissance for our democracy. With that in mind, I've put the best ideas together into a seven-point blueprint called the Restore Democracy Act. Here's what the plan would do:

* Reverse the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. Corporations are not people and money is not free speech. You shouldn't have to be rich or rely on wealthy special interests to run for Congress.

* Implement a federal campaign financing system that combines public money with small donor contributions -- returning control of our elections to regular people.

* Prohibit campaign fundraising while Congress is in session - that's time for doing the people's business.

* Limit the campaign season, as other western democracies do. Campaigns shouldn't last 365 days a year -- every single year.

* End "gerrymandering" that's made all but about 35 Congressional districts safe for incumbents. All 435 districts should be competitive.

* Establish a nationwide online system of voter registration, and put an end to laws that suppress voting. Voter participation should always be encouraged.

* And put Congress back to work, five days a week just like other people who have full-time jobs. We need that time to fully consider every bill, idea, and amendment through the regular committee process. By doing so, we can foster bipartisanship as we get to know one another better, and hammer out points of compromise and agreement.

Reform won't be quick or easy, but our democracy and the integrity of our political process demand that we keep driving forward until we get the job done.

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