Reform the Reformers

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On the Saturday Show (Jan. 21), NPR commentator John Ydstie, in a statement called “Lobbying Reform:  Not Likely!”, talked about the provisions of the various “reform” bills now being considered and noted that they weren’t likely to work.  Indeed, he noted that “short of public funding of election campaigns”, nothing was likely to work.

Let me repeat—unless government controls the election process, corruption remains likely.  To address a political scandal, the solution is…more politics!  This is the brain-dead philosophy that led to McCain-Feingold and a host of other measures which have turned Congressional seats into tenured positions.  Still, the reformers push on—if a bit of government intervention doesn’t solve the problem, then go with more.  If more government intervention doesn’t work, take over the process entirely.  Would-be reformers just can’t grasp the idea that the most corrupting influence is government itself.