a long-standing interest in having the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider Buckley v. Vallejo
On October 9, 1997, in a "Freshman Forum" discussing campaign finance reform, U.S. Representative from California Ellen Tauscher said:
"As you know, the Supreme Court ruled in 1976 in the case of Buckley v. Vallejo that limitations on spending by political candidates are unconstitutional because they curtail the free speech of the candidate. The Court has shown no indication that it is inclined to overturn this landmark decision.
"Many members of Congress would like to limit the amount of money that candidates can spend on campaigns but no consensus has formed about how to achieve that goal. Some would directly challenge the Court’s Buckley decision by passing legislation restricting candidate spending in federal elections. [bolding added] Others propose developing incentives for candidates to voluntarily limit the amount of money that they spend."
belling the cat
Now, more than eight years later, a bill principally written by
U.S. Representative David Obey (D-WI) and supported by
U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) and a few other members of Congress, which would do just that, namely, "challenge the Court's Buckley decision [by being] legislation restricting candidate spending in federal elections," is about to be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
This bill is called the "Let the People Decide Clean Campaign Act" and you can access the current text of this proposed legislation by clicking
here.
an exclusive audio interview with U.S. Representative Barney Frank about the "Let the People Decide Clean Campaign Act"
Etopia Media News Networks'
American Politics Today spoke this afternoon with Representative Frank about the "Let the People Decide Clean Campaign Act."
You can listen to that interview, in its entirety, by clicking
here.
During the interview, Representative Frank indicated that the public is disenchanted with politicians because they receive large contributions from those they influence through their legislative actions, but that the same public is also unwilling to provide the alternative, which is public funding for candidates.
He indicated that it has to be one or the other, and that he'd like to see increased public discussion of the whole issue, which is why he and his colleagues are introducing the "Let the People Decide Clean Campaign Act."
You can read an earlier
American Politics Today article about this bill, where it's referred to as the "Grassroots Clean Campaign Act," by clicking
here.
for more information about Clean Money/Clean Elections
Get into the swing of things with additional Etopia Media News Network articles and interviews and Google Alerts
Join the American Politics Today mailing list (unless you're already on another Etopia Media mailing list)
