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Let’s Have Real Reform

Of all the lies that prove that the paycheck protection movement is really paycheck deception, perhaps none is more scurrilous than the claim by proponents that such measures represent campaign finance reform. California’s working people didn’t fall for it, and neither should anyone else.

It takes a special kind of arrogance on the part of the carnival hucksters who pushed California’s Proposition 226 to think that anyone would believe the argument that the best way to correct abuses in our current campaign finance system is to silence the voice of the one organized group that speaks for working people while allowing corporations and wealthy individuals even more room on the playing field. They can insult our intelligence all they want. We’ll give them the ultimate insult at the ballot box and in state legislatures.

The IBEW has a genuine interest in this debate. Our political arm, the IBEW Committee on Political Education (IBEW-COPE) is one of the five largest political action committees, or PACs in the United States. As we approach the 1998 elections, we expect to raise in excess of three million dollars in voluntary, authorized contributions from IBEW members to be used to support candidates for public office who share our views on issues that affect working people. A similar but separate political action fund exists in Canada for our members to support labor-friendly candidates in federal and provincial elections. Our COPE operations are administered in full compliance with al applicable laws in both nations.

We do not do this for the fun of it. The fact of life is that money is a critical factor in politics. Were we to take a holier-than-thou approach and stay out of the game, other organizations, especially corporate interests, would happily fill the gap. In fact, business groups routinely dwarf the amount of money raised and spent by unions, to the tune of eleven to one. If we don’t support our friends who run for office, then the opposition’s candidates will prevail every time.

As of this writing, the U.S. Congress was making one last stab at passing campaign finance reform. The unions of the AFL-CIO have offered a prescription for true reform, putting their cards on the table and calling the bluff of those who would attempt to pass off the silencing of working families as an improvement.

Rather than closing off the system to some, organized labor advocates opening the system to all, not just the richest. If all parties are truly interested in reform, then let them support spending limits on campaigns, so that money doesn’t dictate the rules of engagement. Let them join us in supporting to ban so-called "soft money," that is, unregulated contributions to political parties or "independent expenditures" by advocacy groups. Let them support limits on individual contributions so that wealthy individuals cannot skirt the rules at the expense of the average citizen. Let them get behind the concept of free television and radio time and reduced postage rates for bonafide candidates to reduce costs and give voters a chance to hear all sides. Let them also open up access to the registration and polling processes so that all citizens are encouraged to exercise their treasured right to vote.

Critics say these measures impinge on freedom of speech. They do not. Rather, by opening up the process to all, regardless of money, these steps would expand freedom of speech along with the right of voters to hear a vigorous debate on real issues and make informed decisions.

If there is any lasting lesson to be drawn form the early results of the paycheck deception battles, it is that the politics of exclusion won’t wash with the public. We should instead be seeking ways to implement the politics of inclusion. As the results in California show, when the labor movement acts like a true movement and mobilizes the energies and talents of individual locals and members, it is an awesome force, capable of changing the face of American and Canadian politics. That is exactly what the fat cats don’t want to see. That is why the nut cases on the far right try to shut you up. And that is exactly why we need to keep fighting for a fair and open political system throughout North America.