[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
would have found myself falling in love with her now. Helse had been my ideal love, in that kingdom by
the sea, but now I understood that Megan was to Helse as a nova is to a star. "Just keep in mind that
though Thorley is at the opposite end of the political spectrum, he is a competent journalist and an
honest man."
"You would find good in the devil himself," I charged her, also smiling.
"That might be a slight exaggeration. But Thorley is no devil. His beliefs may be wrong-headed by my
definitions, but he is no demagogue. He will not compromise his principles, and that is to be respected."
"I see no principle here!" I snapped, staring at the item. But I knew it was useless to talk back to a piece
of paper.
Gradually the underlying currents came clear. Politicians as a class were not noted for their integrity, but
they ran true to form in certain ways. All of them were interested in money, because they required huge
amounts of it to publicize themselves, and publicity was the lifeblood of politics. All had to solicit
money from their constituents, but none ever had enough. This was not greed, it was the breath of
political life. The politician who spent the most to promote himself usually prevailed, when the contest
was in other respects even. Of course, it was seldom even; the incumbent always had an enormous
advantage, because he was already known to the electorate, and his office generated natural publicity.
To unseat an incumbent, a challenger needed to spend much more money, but the incumbent had much
readier access to the sources of money.
"How can any challenger ever prevail?" I asked as I contemplated the statistics.
"Now you can see why some campaigns get dirty," Megan responded.
Of course. Dirt was relatively cheap. A little money could purchase a lot of dirt and muddy the waters so
that the dirt-slinger might have a better chance. Obviously this was a strategy that Megan's nemesis
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Click here to buy
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Tocsin had mastered. I liked Tocsin less as I got to know his ways, but my understanding was growing.
It was like guerrilla fighting on backworld settlements; the government had overwhelming resources, so
the opposition had to resort to stealth and terrorism. It wasn't nice, but it evened the odds somewhat.
Politics followed similar rules, but the evidences were more subtle. Tocsin had not fired a laser into
Megan's back during their campaign in Golden; he had circulated a bogus description of her positions on
issues, the paper tinted a delicate pink. This was, for complex and irrelevant reasons the color associated
with the Saturnists. Thus he had implied that she was a traitor to Jupiter. A laser in the back would have
been cleaner.
The main supplier of money was the community of special interests. This amounted to institutionalized
bribery. The small-arm laser manufacturers contributed to candidates who promised to prevent any
legislation restricting the manufacture or distribution or sale or use of hand-lasers. The agricultural
interests contributed to those who believed in higher price supports for vegetable bubbles. The military-
industrial complex contributed to those who argued for a strong planetary defense. Special interests
abounded, and the aggregate of their contributions to politicians was huge. Evidently it was cost-
effective, for by means of contributions of thousands of dollars, they could reap legislation that returned
them millions. Out of those millions in profits came the contributions to subsequent campaigns, and
those contributions were tax-deductible. The common taxpayer always ended up paying for it.
Some politicians tried to be honest: they turned down special-interest money. They generally lost their
elections. Thus victory went to the ones who were most freely for sale. It was open, legally sanctioned
corruption, causing the entire government to be corrupt, because it was hard to get really clean
government from those who became members of it only by committing themselves to minority interests
for money.
I concluded that this must be the fundamental evil of the system: the pervasive influence of special-
interest money on the governmental process. Stop that flow of money, and much of the inherent
corruption would lose its motivation. Some campaigns had solved the problem by providing for public
funding; the campaign for the highest office, the Presidency, was that way. But those for Congress were
privately funded, and the purchase of elective offices was chronic.
Campaign finance reform there was my special project. That was the starting place, for the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl akte20.pev.pl
would have found myself falling in love with her now. Helse had been my ideal love, in that kingdom by
the sea, but now I understood that Megan was to Helse as a nova is to a star. "Just keep in mind that
though Thorley is at the opposite end of the political spectrum, he is a competent journalist and an
honest man."
"You would find good in the devil himself," I charged her, also smiling.
"That might be a slight exaggeration. But Thorley is no devil. His beliefs may be wrong-headed by my
definitions, but he is no demagogue. He will not compromise his principles, and that is to be respected."
"I see no principle here!" I snapped, staring at the item. But I knew it was useless to talk back to a piece
of paper.
Gradually the underlying currents came clear. Politicians as a class were not noted for their integrity, but
they ran true to form in certain ways. All of them were interested in money, because they required huge
amounts of it to publicize themselves, and publicity was the lifeblood of politics. All had to solicit
money from their constituents, but none ever had enough. This was not greed, it was the breath of
political life. The politician who spent the most to promote himself usually prevailed, when the contest
was in other respects even. Of course, it was seldom even; the incumbent always had an enormous
advantage, because he was already known to the electorate, and his office generated natural publicity.
To unseat an incumbent, a challenger needed to spend much more money, but the incumbent had much
readier access to the sources of money.
"How can any challenger ever prevail?" I asked as I contemplated the statistics.
"Now you can see why some campaigns get dirty," Megan responded.
Of course. Dirt was relatively cheap. A little money could purchase a lot of dirt and muddy the waters so
that the dirt-slinger might have a better chance. Obviously this was a strategy that Megan's nemesis
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
Tocsin had mastered. I liked Tocsin less as I got to know his ways, but my understanding was growing.
It was like guerrilla fighting on backworld settlements; the government had overwhelming resources, so
the opposition had to resort to stealth and terrorism. It wasn't nice, but it evened the odds somewhat.
Politics followed similar rules, but the evidences were more subtle. Tocsin had not fired a laser into
Megan's back during their campaign in Golden; he had circulated a bogus description of her positions on
issues, the paper tinted a delicate pink. This was, for complex and irrelevant reasons the color associated
with the Saturnists. Thus he had implied that she was a traitor to Jupiter. A laser in the back would have
been cleaner.
The main supplier of money was the community of special interests. This amounted to institutionalized
bribery. The small-arm laser manufacturers contributed to candidates who promised to prevent any
legislation restricting the manufacture or distribution or sale or use of hand-lasers. The agricultural
interests contributed to those who believed in higher price supports for vegetable bubbles. The military-
industrial complex contributed to those who argued for a strong planetary defense. Special interests
abounded, and the aggregate of their contributions to politicians was huge. Evidently it was cost-
effective, for by means of contributions of thousands of dollars, they could reap legislation that returned
them millions. Out of those millions in profits came the contributions to subsequent campaigns, and
those contributions were tax-deductible. The common taxpayer always ended up paying for it.
Some politicians tried to be honest: they turned down special-interest money. They generally lost their
elections. Thus victory went to the ones who were most freely for sale. It was open, legally sanctioned
corruption, causing the entire government to be corrupt, because it was hard to get really clean
government from those who became members of it only by committing themselves to minority interests
for money.
I concluded that this must be the fundamental evil of the system: the pervasive influence of special-
interest money on the governmental process. Stop that flow of money, and much of the inherent
corruption would lose its motivation. Some campaigns had solved the problem by providing for public
funding; the campaign for the highest office, the Presidency, was that way. But those for Congress were
privately funded, and the purchase of elective offices was chronic.
Campaign finance reform there was my special project. That was the starting place, for the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]