RE: Choice 1, Reed Davis 28 Mar comment on

[Denise Hood <hoodsx3@aol.com>]

Ruth, Reed:

Exactly! I have to say that my personal feelings come down on the same side with both of you. Campaign Finance Reform is all about identifying FIRST, that the system is broken. Then comes an awareness that only painfully honest approaches are going to work. "Reining in" PACS/Lobbies, or Full Disclosure without regulation is really more about allowing the system to stand, intact, with minor modifications that WILL be exploited for weaknesses and loopholes, and we'll all be right back where we started. We're talking about Band-Aids, when I see AMPUTATION as being in order.

Choice 1 offers the best hope for REAL Campaign Finance Reform, not just paying it "lip service." Taking the influence of wealthy individual donors and special interests OUT of the equation entirely is the ONLY real solution. But it'd take an earnest committment and honest desire to REALLY reform the system, realizing that, in the long run, it'd benefit EVERY American. Everyone would be called upon to make sacrifices for the common good. It could take the future of our whole political dynamic down a healthy, new path, a fitting way to begin this new millenium. 

But just as boldly as I say these words, the reality is, that I think it will never happen. It would take a level of courage and committment and sacrifice on the part of our elected leaders that I just don't see any longer, with very few, notable exceptions.