THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9603020025
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
The Federal Election Commission failed to make its case against House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his GOPAC, but it has made a pretty good case for campaign-finance reform.
The FEC claimed that GOPAC spent millions to support candidates for election to the U.S. House and Senate including Speaker Gingrich himself. Such political-action committees were permitted to support state and local candidates but were limited in regard to federal elections.
U.S. District Judge Luis Oberndorfer ruled that GOPAC did not target federal elections but supported GOP candidates generally and so was not in violation of law.
The ruling appears to open the door to more so-called soft-money spending and to increase the clout that PACs representing special interests can have on elections. Some observers believe the result may be ironic from a Republican perspective. Labor unions and other Democratic supporters are expected to exploit the ruling for their own purposes. If GOPAC becomes the model for campaign financing, donors will be able to conceal their identity.
Once again the need for campaign-finance reform is demonstrated. Too many elections are bought by too much special-interest money. The practice favors the well-heeled, leads to entrenched power, compromised legislators and distorted elections.
It limits the ability of candidates not in thrall to PAC money to compete and tends to make elected officials more accountable to big donors than to the ordinary citizen. Both political parties have been promising campaign-finance reform for some time. The promise remains unfulfilled. by CNB