To hell with campaign finance reform

Now that the Supreme Court of the United States says that it’s okay to screw with congressional districts any time the party in power wishes, we might as well throw out any limits on campaign contributions or expenditures as well.

Yep. Incumbents and challengers, raise what you want; spend what you want. But here’s what I want in return: Congress will provide the means necessary for any citizen with a computer to track every goddamned penny campaigning politicians collect and spend. And that goes for their “leadership” PACs and the state and federal party campaign committees. Show us the money.

I want to know where the money comes from and where it goes. I want more stringent campaign-finance disclosure. I want see the filthy trails of hard money and soft money in full, glorious detail.

And I want better financial disclosure statements from those greedy idiots in Congress. I want the ranges in which representatives and senators report their income and liabilities changed to specific dollars and cents.

No more income “between $100,001 and $200,000.” Tell us your income. Period. Tell us your liabilities. Period. For that matter, let the Supremes pony up precise info, too.

I’ll trade spending limits and donation limits for full transparency. And I want Congress to require that Federal Election Commission data be even more user-friendly so that any voter can easily see who’s buying what politician. The Center for Responsive Politics (opensecrets.org) does a wonderful job, but I want more transparency, and I want Congress to provide it.

Congress should provide the FEC the resources to create a more user-friendly interface that allows voters to see for free the devil’s-in-the-details level of information that costs money at sites like Political Money Line.

I want more. I want more finely tuned ways to checking how representatives and senators vote. I want to easily see every damn vote they make — procedural and substantive. I want the Thomas service at the Library of Congress to be easier to use. I want analyses of bills written in English instead of bureaucratic gibberish. The Washington Post Votes Database does a good job of providing congressional votes, but I want Congress to provide them as a measure of full transparency.

And after we get open windows from Congress (I know, I know — when pigs fly), then we’ll go after more transparency at the state legislatures.

Why? Because those are the morons who will hatch and execute the redistricting schemes needed to grab or keep power.

If the Supreme Court is selling us down the redistricting river, then at least give us better ways to see who’s buying off whom.

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