Democracy for Vancouver

Here is an example of how corruption is endemic to our current system of government and why public financing of campaigns is so critical to saving our democracy.

BIAW Takes a Page from The Pelican Brief

Editor, Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Perhaps leaders of the BIAW (Building Industry Association of Washington) paid close attention to The Pelican Brief - about the advantages of packing a court with favorable justices before your case is heard.

In that fictional John Grisham novel and 1993 movie (Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington), a wealthy land-developer arranges the assassination of two Supreme Court justices, to “re-arrange” the court prior to the arrival of a lawsuit over his development plans.

The BIAW prefers to re-arrange Washington’s supreme court with huge amounts of cash - quite legal, for now - through their supposedly-independent Walking for Washington program, touting their ideologically conservative supreme court candidates.

It stinks - and it should be made illegal. If successful - and if as a result the Supreme Court later rules favorably on the legality of Initiative 933 (so-called Takings Initiative, also the brain-child of the BIAW) - financial backers of the BIAW will recover their investment handsomely. But the public policy will handcuff the rest of us for years - a classic case of a wealthy special interest purchasing public policy with oodles of cash.

What is urgently needed in Washington is full public financing of election campaigns, at all levels - so that wealthy donors can no longer simply “buy” candidates for office and thereby arrange public policy to their liking. Campaigns should be about issues, fairly debated, and not unduly influenced by tremendous financial advantage of one special interest.

Washington Public Campaigns - nonpartisan, www.washclean.org - wants to clean up this legal bribery.

Will our legislature - and voters in Washington - arise to the challenge?

Craig Salins
Washington Public Campaigns