CAMPAIGN-FINANCE REFORM ISSUE IS LITTLE MORE THAN A MIRAGE

Is it just me, or has it occurred to anyone else that all this clamoring for campaign-finance reform is just a bit Pollyannish? That it is based on a misguided premise and a false promise? The premise is that the system is corrupt. The promise is that a legal overhaul of the system will fix it.

The lifeblood of campaign-finance reform is its promise to end political corruption caused by the iron triangle of lobbying, money and legislation. If laws can be passed to break up this evil triad, then things will be wonderful again.

It is true that in an ideal world legislators would always vote their consciences rather than being influenced by the policy demands of their largest contributors. But even if you remove money from the system, other conscience-numbing influences will fill the void.

To be sure, the current system is far from perfect and contains some corrupting temptations. But this preoccupation with the system disguises the overreaching reality that the primary culprits are people, not the system.

Perfect systems and laws will not eliminate all corruption. Under existing law, foreign contributions are already illegal. But those laws did not prevent Clinton and Gore from soliciting and accepting Chinese money.

When those two were caught red-handed, their defense was that they could not be blamed because flaws in the system made them do it. They were victims. To avoid personal accountability, they created the smoke screen of calling for more laws.

I believe this obsession with reform this mindset that more laws will be a panacea for all of our problems is symptomatic of our dehumanized culture. Our secularized culture teaches us that we are behaviorally conditioned machines, not independent, free agents responsible for our own choices. If we are not responsible for our actions, we certainly cannot be held to account for them.

The Framers well understood that men were imperfect, and incorporated checks and balances into our Constitution to minimize corruption. They placed limitations on government to ensure the maximum preservation of our freedoms.

What is the ultimate goal of reformers? According to reformers themselves, their main purpose is not to end corruption, but to return government to the people. If popular sovereignty is really the goal of reformers, rather than just another slick-sounding platitude, as I suspect, why don't they call for real reform by way of a restoration of our founding constitutional principles? Under the Constitution, the federal governments' powers were expressly delineated and the remainder reserved to the states and to the people. But through the years, Congress, with the aid of the courts, has grossly usurped those reserved powers.

Congress has enacted laws to control the most minute aspects of our lives in ways the framers could not have imagined. The courts have allowed these encroachments under twisted interpretations of the interstate-commerce clause and otherwise. Such perverted constructions of the Constitution over the years have led to federal intervention in wholly inappropriate areas of our lives, such as education. Our freedom is infringed in direct proportion to the federal government's involvement in these areas. If you returned these powers to the states, incidentally, you'd significantly reduce certain corrupt practices, such as pork-barrel spending.

The courts have also initiated their own mischief as well. An example is their fabrication out of whole cloth of a woman's constitutional right to choose an abortion that overrides state laws on the subject. Similarly, various presidents, especially Clinton, have abused their authority and assumed power they didn't have, such as through executive orders.

If the goal of reformers is to restore power to the people, a much more fruitful step would be to elect presidents and congressmen who would honor our founding constitutional principles and the limitations on their respective authority. In turn, they would appoint judges who would adhere to their proper constitutional role of interpreting laws rather than making them.

Campaign-finance reform has a hallowed and appealing ring to it, but it doesn't address the real problem it is designed to solve. Real reform involves a return to our founding principles where people are sovereign and officials are accountable. To effectuate such reform requires courage and statesmanship, not political pandering.

~David Limbaugh of Cape Girardeau is a columnist for Creators Syndicate.