Keep Wall St. out of ballot box

By Bill Walzer, Letter to the Editor

How unfortunate that out-of-state corporations will be allowed to influence California's selection of congressional representatives as mentioned in Joe Garofoli's campaign finance article on Sunday ("Boxer backers wary of fundraising ruling," Feb. 7).

We should not allow the wealth of Wall Street banks and oil companies to influence our elections. We need to get politicians out of the fundraising game that compromises their decision-making.

The solution is voluntary public financing of election campaigns for candidates who agree to take no private contributions. A pilot program for California is on the June ballot as Proposition 15. In Arizona and Maine, the same system allows most public officials to owe allegiance only to voters and the public interest rather than big money special interests that would normally fund their campaigns.

Vote yes on Prop. 15 in June and make our government serve the public interest.

BILL WALZER, Berkeley

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