RE: Introductions

[Jean Milgram <jmilgram@rvm.org>]

My personal experience with laws limiting campaign contributions was as a result of $1,000 I gave McGovern in 1972, the first year of the still existing limitaion of individual contributions. This contribution put me on Nixon's Enemies List. The list of all contributors to presidential campaigns was published and I discovered that all of the people on the Enemies List were contributors of $1,000 to McGovern before the Democratic convention. Also, ALL of these contributors were on the Enemies List. The two lists were identical, and it was clear that my contribution had led Nixon's staff to try to cause me problems. I was very uncomfortable at the thought that the most powerful man on Earth considered me an enemy and it seemed to me that somehow my privacy rights had been violated. I still have that feeling even though I understand the rationale for reporting all political contributions over $50. But I wasn't trying to buy influence - I was trying to help stop the Vietnam War. I do think we need to always think hard about possible unintended consequences.