Let’s think this through.
Let’s say the government wants to regulate, oh, the internet or the health care system. Does anyone believe that the 535 members of Congress have the knowledge required to make sweeping changes to highly technical industries? I sure hope not, because they don’t. Instead, they have to rely on industry insiders to help them draft legislation. That’s just the way it’s done.
Now, given that some industry insiders get a hand in making legislation, do you suspect they might help write legislation that benefits them? Even if it’s just bias, and not malice?
If so, what recourse does anyone have to stop it? If lobbying by opposing viewpoints is not allowed, if people can’t raise money for political action groups, if experts aren’t allow to pay for political ads opposing the legislation… Are we just going to let Washington be run by insiders and cronies, and no one can lift a rhetorical finger to stop them?
Are you sure you’re okay with stopping the activities of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Organizing for America, the Center for American Progress, etc?
And let’s not forget labor unions, which as I recall are the largest funders of politicians. Are they no longer allowed to spend money in support of candidates?
If you want money out of politics, there’s only one way to do it - lower the economic consequences of political decisions by shrinking the size of government. So long as government can issue rules and regulations that can change the flow of billions or trillions of dollars, people will find a way to influence the political process. That’s just the way it works.
I’d rather have it out in the open. So what I’d do is allow anyone to fund politicians for whatever reason, with the rule that any individual or corporation giving more than, say, $500 must have the donation registered in a searchable public database. Get rid of the shadow money, and make all large donations completely transparent so we can see who is being bought and who is doing the buying.
By the way, a lot of the influence peddling in Washington has nothing to do with campaign financing. To skirt that, all you have to do is promise a candidate that so long as he carries water for you, as soon as he’s out of office you’ll give him a cushy job doing very little for a lot of money. Or if you are nice to your cronies they’ll see to it that you land a sweet speaking gig for hundreds of thousands of dollars a pop. Or since Congress is exempt from insider trading laws (a scandal in its own right), maybe they’ll just slide you a few hot stock tips about an upcoming business decision so you can make your money and remain at arm’s length.
When that much money is at stake, people can be ingenious in how they get their influence.