Voice of the People on Campaign Reform

While we slept, thieves in Washington illegally amended the U.S. Constitution and stole a large piece of our liberties (“House OKs Campaign Finance Bill,” Feb. 14). In direct violation of the 1st Amendment, a so-called campaign finance reform bill was passed which will, in effect, put the politicians themselves in charge of the political process and unfairly protect incumbents.

Ordinary citizens have a large collective voice in politics by donating small sums of money to organizations that can buy advertising time. That right will be banned 60 days before an election, but the editorialists, the candidates themselves and the media will be under no restriction in their quest to influence public opinion. If a candidate buys air time one week before an election and lies in the ad, we will have no way to counter that with ads of our own.

Our only hope lies with the Supreme Court. Our Constitution was written by brilliant men who limited government. The 1st Amendment begins, “Congress shall make no law ... ,” yet that is just what our representatives did.

John Lynch

Studio City

*

Those who call campaign finance reform an abridgment of constitutional free speech have it backward. Had the founding fathers known what one was, they would have perceived large, politically active corporations or interest groups as the equivalent of dukes and earls in the monarchical system that had just been expelled from our shores.

Their idea of free speech was that every man had a voice, an unamplified voice, its reach unexaggerated by the accumulation of power. Corporations and individuals who make huge contributions to politicians effectively amplify their own voices and drown out the rest of us. The fact is, it’s the lack of campaign finance reform that abridges the constitutional right of the individual to have his or her voice heard.

Jim Houghton

Encino

*

Our founding fathers wrote the Constitution with one person/one vote in mind. They did not foresee that our government would become “one vote for sale” to the highest bidder. Without true campaign reform, not something that just sounds good but does nothing, our government is a mockery of democracy. We the people, not we the people with money, is the basis of the very heart of our country. Please, change the dishonest mess our government has become.

Fran Gale

Mission Viejo