A Way to Reform Politics of Money

By Dale Leuthold, Letter to the Editor

Those who criticize candidates for taking special-interest money must realize the problem will never be solved until there is another way to finance campaigns. That is why the Legislature's action this week to pass the Clean Money and Fair Elections Act of 2006 is so significant. Candidates who voluntarily participate have their campaign expenses covered by public funds, and they get matching funds if they are outspent by a conventionally funded candidate. They don't have to hold fundraisers or talk to lobbyists, and they are accountable only to the voters who elected them. Some may worry about the cost of public funding, but consider how public funds are being misused with the present system.

Dale Leuthold
Saratoga

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