Campaign Spending

Your editorial (Oct. 21) addressed the $1.6 billion raised by political campaigns this year. In addition, there are hundreds of millions of dollars devoted to corporate and special-interest lobbying, advertising campaigns (NRA, etc.), policy think tanks whose “researchers” produce an endless flow of politically interested op-ed articles. Perhaps it is fair to say more than $2 billion will be spent this year to affect the American political process.

It might be useful to think about where those funds used to go a few decades ago. I would suggest that much of that personal and corporate discretionary income once went into philanthropy: foundations, hospitals, universities, churches, scientific and medical research, libraries, symphonies and civic amenities.

Southern California’s contribution to the 1996 political year--at least $200 million--might well have secured the future of Disney Hall, protected County-USC Medical Center, avoided cuts at L.A. County Museum of Art, saved the Los Angeles Theatre Center and expanded the marvelous work at the L.A. and Union missions.

The issue of campaign contributions is not only the evident corruption of the system, but the waste of vast resources on junk mail and negative sound bites, resources that could otherwise go far toward making our community a better place.

RONALD MELLOR, Chair

Department of History, UCLA