{"id":2515,"date":"2007-11-09T08:47:00","date_gmt":"2007-11-09T14:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/11\/sisyphus-vs-hercules\/"},"modified":"2009-08-22T14:10:32","modified_gmt":"2009-08-22T20:10:32","slug":"sisyphus-vs-hercules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/11\/sisyphus-vs-hercules\/","title":{"rendered":"Sisyphus vs. Hercules"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Carter Bundy<\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Anyone with the good fortune of traveling to or studying other countries has had the dark, strange, but satisfying experience of learning that people everywhere, regardless of system of government, believe that their politicians are corrupt and do the bidding of more powerful people. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s satisfying because there\u2019s something comforting in knowing that we\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s dark, though, because government should, and can, represent the best of what we want. After all, we get to decide who goes to Santa Fe<\/st1:city> or Washington<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The sentiment is also strange because those who do the voting complain about the results. The most commonly accused culprits for this oddity are mysterious entities called \u201cspecial interests.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Of course, one person\u2019s special interest is another\u2019s strong voice for (insert good word here: \u201cjustice,\u201d \u201cfreedom,\u201d \u201cmorality\u201d and \u201copportunity\u201d all come highly recommended). The one thing most \u201cspecial interests\u201d do have in common, though, is that they\u2019re all perceived to have big money behind them. Can, or should, anything be done?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Public financing to the rescue. Maybe.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There\u2019s one solution that advocates say permits free speech while pushing, but not forcing, big money to the side: public financing. The beauty of public financing is that it most commonly is voluntary, meaning you\u2019re not really squelching anyone\u2019s speech. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Further, if done Albuquerque-style, independent expenditures are countered by the release of matching monies to participating candidates who didn\u2019t benefit from the IEs. People on all sides will tell you that Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s matching funds for IEs dramatically limited, or eliminated, IEs in this year\u2019s races.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The big question is whether public financing is just another well-intentioned attempt to do the Sisyphean<\/a>, or whether it\u2019s the strongest way to take on a Herculean<\/a> task.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Skeptics: it\u2019s Sisyphean<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was punished for being deceitful by spending eternity pushing a huge rock up a hill, only to lose control of it and have to start all over again. Some argue that campaign finance reform is a similarly futile, impossible Sisyphean task, where no matter what reforms are made, ultimately nothing will change.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The skeptics have some strong points. Ban all direct contributions of over, say, $100. Further stipulate that a matching fund system could be fairly administered, resulting in no election-related IEs.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Would you really eliminate money from politics? Heck no. My favorite example is something the National Rifle Association proposed a few years ago. Anticipating even stricter limits on their participation in elections, the NRA floated the idea of purchasing a number of media outlets.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

What would stop a wealthy person or entity from buying a major media outlet, airing popular programming most of the time, and interrupting the programming with \u201cnews\u201d coverage with a distinct, even explicit, political slant, particularly at election season?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Heck, Rupert Murdoch and the GOP have already done it with Fox News Channel, with ex-GOP leader Roger Ailes running a tight message machine closely tending to the needs and desires of one party.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Game and set, Sisyphus.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Hercules strikes back<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Many public financing advocates are aware of the whack-a-mole nature of trying to eliminate big money from politics. They counter, though, that the task is hard, but not futile. Herculean, not Sisyphean. Not only can it be done, but it has been done.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

They point to Maine<\/st1:state> and Arizona<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> as strong examples where the NRA (or labor, or pro-life, or pro-choice groups) haven\u2019t purchased TV and radio stations. Locals will point to Albuquerque<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> and the lack of major IEs in the 2007 elections.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

At a minimum, public financing moves the big-bucks boys to significantly alter their current ways of doing business, lessening the impact of their money in the short- to medium-term.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Can you imagine the hassle and effort involved in trying to buy a bunch of media outlets and develop programming just to influence elections once every four years? It can be done, but what a logistical and resource-intensive nightmare.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Game and set, Hercules.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

And the winner is\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

After a period of time, wealthy interests will largely adapt to any new system.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

On the other hand, even if some big money figured out a way to beat the system after a few years, public financing would allow incumbent legislators, mayors, governors and other electeds to focus on the job for which they were hired. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

How nice would it be to not have to fundraise? Plus, most public financing proposals have some threshold of signatures and\/or small contributions, meaning politicians would have to get out and listen to the concerns of thousands of constituents. That has to be better for democracy than dialing for big dollars.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So is campaign finance reform an impossible, Sisyphean task, or merely Herculean? If you want a perfect system, well, yeah, you\u2019re always going to rolling that rock up the hill. But if the question is whether you can limit big bucks in politics without eroding free speech, the answer is, \u201cyes.\u201d Tough, but it can be done.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Governor\u2019s Task Force on Ethics Reform<\/a> recommended this year the adoption of public financing for all statewide races, and recommended \u201cthat future consideration be given to extending the existing voluntary public financing system to district court elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Hopefully, sooner rather than later, New Mexican legislators can take on the Herculean task of joining Arizona<\/st1:State> and Maine<\/st1:place><\/st1:State> in adopting strong, effective public financing for all races. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Game, set and match, Hercules.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Bundy is the political and legislative director for AFSCME<\/a> in New Mexico<\/st1:State><\/st1:place>. The opinions in his column are personal and do not necessarily reflect any official AFSCME position. You can learn more about him by clicking here<\/a>. Contact him at carterbundy@yahoo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A prior version of this column incorrectly stated that the task force recommended expansion of public financing only to district court races.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Carter Bundy Anyone with the good fortune of traveling to or studying other countries has had the dark, strange, but satisfying experience of learning that people everywhere, regardless of system of government, believe that their politicians are corrupt and do the bidding of more powerful people. It\u2019s satisfying because there\u2019s something comforting in knowing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bundy-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2515\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}