Campaign Reform

WASHINGTON -- For sheer hypocrisy, there's seldom been anything to match the display put on by the House foes of campaign finance reform in their failed effort to keep unregulated "soft money" flowing into the federal election system. House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who has spent years trying to kill all efforts to shut off the spigot or even reduce its flow, proposed with a straight face ending all soft money immediately, in a transparent effort to shake loose members facing tough re-election fights in November.

MINNEAPOLIS -- The five Democratic candidates for governor were sitting around a table at the local public radio station the other night debating. One of the debate's sponsors was the Minnesota Nurses Association. Among the candidates was the eventual winner of the party primary, state Attorney General Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey.At the first commercial break, the sound was turned off in the studio and the five chatted amiably, not realizing that the station was running a paid political advertisement endorsing Mr. Humphrey.

When a political party that has been a minority suddenly gains power, the change can be intoxicating. After Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives in 1994, you didn't need a Breathalyzer to detect the effect. It became obvious the instant they started batting around ideas for amending the Constitution - everything from banning flag desecration to inventing new rights for crime victims. None of these went anywhere. Even the hyperkinetic Newt Gingrich soon realized he had his hands full with the normal business of legislating.

Efforts to bring some modest reform to Maryland's loophole-ridden campaign finance laws got a boost this week from Gov. Martin O'Malley. But the top Democrat's newfound interest in closing one of the more glaring deficiencies in state law is tempered by his desire to simultaneously loosen overall limits on political giving. As Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's recent task force reported, there are at least two dozen or more holes to plug in Maryland campaign finance law. Mr. O'Malley has thrown his support to closing exactly one — the ability of developers and others to use limited liability corporations (LLCs)

WASHINGTON -- On Congress' first working day after the inauguration of the second President Bush, Sen. John McCain and six other Republican lawmakers showed up with Sen. Russell Feingold and two other Democrats to demonstrate their solidarity behind campaign finance reform. Together, they are co-sponsors of the McCain-Feingold bill in the Senate and the companion House bill offered by Republican Rep. Christopher Shays and Democrat Martin Meehan. The two bills would, among other things, ban all unregulated or "soft money" contributions in federal elections.

Your editorial, "Good government wins," (April 15) falls short of the mark. Bestowing kudos to the General Assembly for passing legislation that makes campaign finance more helpful in "restoring integrity to the political process" is, with all due respect, misguided. As you point out, these reforms are offset with other provisions which result in a process that facilitates throwing more money into the political arena instead of getting money out. The actions of the General Assembly with regard to campaign finance reform bring to mind the following analogy.