{"id":38358,"date":"2012-03-26T11:38:41","date_gmt":"2012-03-26T17:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=38358"},"modified":"2012-03-26T18:51:22","modified_gmt":"2012-03-27T00:51:22","slug":"wilson-sowards-talk-about-money-in-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/03\/wilson-sowards-talk-about-money-in-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilson, Sowards talk about money in politics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>

The U.S. Capitol building (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

While Heather Wilson says \u2018sunlight is a great disinfectant,\u2019 Greg Sowards says, \u2018If politicians are dishonest, regulations are not going to keep them honest.\u2019<\/h4>\n

This post continues a series on the U.S. Senate<\/a> and 1st Congressional District<\/a> candidates\u2019 stances on various policy issues.<\/em><\/p>\n

Heather Wilson<\/a> says candidates should be \u201cdirectly responsible and accountable for their campaigns\u201d but supports allowing super PACs \u201cuntil they are banned for everyone,\u201d while Greg Sowards<\/a> opposes restrictions on political spending.<\/p>\n

Wilson, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, said she opposed the McCain-Fiengold campaign finance act<\/a> as a member of the U.S. House because she thought the courts would probably rule it unconstitutional. The Supreme Court did toss out parts of the law in its Citizens United decision<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a result, Wilson said, campaigns and parties operate within the confines of contribution limits and have to disclose funding, but no one else has to.<\/p>\n

While she said we\u2019re better off \u201cif candidates are directly responsible and accountable for their campaigns,\u201d until that happens, \u201cMy position is the same as President Obama\u2019s:\u00a0Until (super PACs) are banned for everyone, they\u00a0should be allowed to operate in\u00a0New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sowards, on the other hand, said super PACs aren\u2019t the problem, and neither is money in politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo assume that money spent on elections is the cause of our problems in Washington is a stretch,\u201d said Wilson\u2019s opponent in the GOP Senate primary. \u201cIf we, the American people, have become gullible to the point where 30-second sound bites take the place of thorough candidate research, then we probably have the government we deserve, or soon will have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sowards added that he doesn\u2019t support restrictions on political spending, or disclosure requirements beyond those that already exist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf politicians are dishonest, regulations are not going to keep them honest,\u201d Sowards said, though he added that he supports term limits as a way to reduce the amount of money spent on elections.<\/p>\n

The candidates made their comments in response to questions from NMPolitics.net about the influence of money in politics and ethics reform. NMPolitics.net gave the candidates no word minimum or limit, telling them to say what they had to say. The only criterion was that they not engage in personal attacks.<\/p>\n

Here are the questions NMPolitics.net asked on money in politics and ethics reform:<\/p>\n