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Quote of the Day
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
Robert Wechsler
Michael Malbin, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute, testifying
to the Illinois legislature's Joint Committee on Government Reform this
week (Illinois is one of five states with no limits on campaign
contributions; it requires only disclosure. It is also a leading state
in prosecutions of government officials, both local and state):
"[T]his committee heard testimony yesterday from The Center for Competitive Politics. The Center recently released a study claiming to show there to be no correlation between contribution limits and corruption. The problem is that the study's definition of corruption is the Justice Department's record of convictions for federal corrupt practices. In my view, it is absurd to be looking for a correlation between this kind of criminal corruption and contribution limits. People who are willing to skirt the edges of criminal behavior are not likely to be deterred from taking bribes by a law that limits campaign contributions. But that is hardly the point.
"The vast majority of public officials are decent, hard working people who will be guided by the standards around them. The problem is not with what is outside the law but with what is permitted and encouraged inside it. The criminal law should only be used for what is rare. It rubs a civil society raw when the first and only sanctions it offers are ones that involve impeachment or jail time. It
also damages every single public servant unfairly. For their sake as well as the public good, it is important to have a middle step between disclosure-only and jail."
"[T]his committee heard testimony yesterday from The Center for Competitive Politics. The Center recently released a study claiming to show there to be no correlation between contribution limits and corruption. The problem is that the study's definition of corruption is the Justice Department's record of convictions for federal corrupt practices. In my view, it is absurd to be looking for a correlation between this kind of criminal corruption and contribution limits. People who are willing to skirt the edges of criminal behavior are not likely to be deterred from taking bribes by a law that limits campaign contributions. But that is hardly the point.
"The vast majority of public officials are decent, hard working people who will be guided by the standards around them. The problem is not with what is outside the law but with what is permitted and encouraged inside it. The criminal law should only be used for what is rare. It rubs a civil society raw when the first and only sanctions it offers are ones that involve impeachment or jail time. It
also damages every single public servant unfairly. For their sake as well as the public good, it is important to have a middle step between disclosure-only and jail."
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- Robert Wechsler's blog
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