Sorry it took me so long to respond to this... Victoria Heller wrote, of campaign financing:
"Those in the know make a $50 profit by applying for the political contribution refund." Sorry, Victoria, but the PCRP is not available to those who make donations to candidates for Minneapolis offices. The PCRP is a state program. This kind of factual error makes your larger (and unsubstantiated) reports less believable. This is unfortunate, because I agree with your basic point: money has a hugely corrosive impact on politics, including local politics. One point of disagreement, though, is that you seem to think that the corruption flows entirely "top-down," that is, from office holders and candidates. In my experience - the Dinkytown McDonald's comes to mind - the negative influence of money is at least a consensual affair, if not sparked in many cases by the avarice of businesses lusting for a partner/patsy inside city government. Which brings us to the more important question: how do we solve this? I disagree with your defeatist sentiment that "all the laws in the world won't make people honest." The law against murder doesn't keep our society totally free from murder, but it's still a really good idea. I believe the ethics task force is a step in the right direction. Most people's entrance into unethical behavior is like climbing into a bathtub - toes first, not a cannonball. If we make the "grey areas" clearer, we may keep our freshmen CMs off the slippery slope entirely. The next step is at least partial public financing of local elections. I'm glad you brought up the PCRP - it would be hugely beneficial (especially to candidates attempting to reach out to the non-monied-interests) to have a Minneapolis version of this astoundingly successful Minnesota program. I realize there are those on this list who decry any expenditure of taxpayer money at all, but the lesson of the last decade is pretty clear: when you compare the amount of money given in campaign contributions and the amount of money allocated to private interests, elected officials tend to be a REALLY good buy. Let's pay for them ourselves. Robin Garwood Seward _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
