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Washington Monthly, Jan-Feb, 2003 by Alan B. Morrison
Paul Weinstein's effort to find a way to raise the money for public financing of congressional elections gets an "A" for effort, but an "F" for constitutional law ("You Break It, You Pay For It," November). His proposal to make lobbyists pay for public financing is, in effect, a proposal to tax the constitutional right to petition the government for redress of grievances, and I have no doubt that the Supreme Court would strike such a idea down in a flash, assuming it ever got that far. I should also point out that not all lobbyists are fat cats who use their money and influence to buy politicians. Those who represent consumers, environmental groups, civil rights organizations, and ordinary workers would have to pay the tax as well. Of course, if businesses would like the proposed system as much as Mr. Weinstein suggests, they can get together and fund elections voluntarily, but I rather suspect they would prefer things the way they are now.
ALAN B. MORRISON Stanford Law School, Stanford, Calif.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Washington Monthly Company
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
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