FEC INEFFECTIVE AGAINST ABUSES OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS

Another of the reformers' gifts to America is a strange entity called the Federal Elections Commission. This body, consisting of three Democratic appointees and three Republicans, was a post-Watergate reform dating from 1975. It would, we were told, help clean up our election campaigns and guarantee no future Watergates.

In the ensuing nearly quarter-century stretch, the FEC has proven singularly ineffective, and indeed the election campaigns of 1996 may have been the most corrupt in American history. At least Watergate didn't visit on Americans the widespread penetrations of our election campaigns by a foreign power bent on spreading its illegal money around. This is exactly what we saw two years ago, as the Clinton adminstration apparently went after illegal Asian donations and may well have sold out American foreign policy and national security in the bargain.

Now comes the FEC to say that the big abuses of the 1996 campaign will result in the largest fines ever levied against American election campaigns. Specifically, the Clinton-Gore campaign is to be fined $7 million, while the Dole-Kemp campaign is to be fined $17.7 million. All this for what the FEC says is illegal conversion of "soft" money to purposes for which only hard money is to be used. Soft money is money donated to political committees, and it may be given directly by corporations and labor unions in unlimited amounts. "Hard" money is money donated directly to candidates' campaigns and is limited to $1,000 in federal campaigns, with corporate and union donations banned.

Attorneys for both campaigns are sure to challenge the fines in court. By the time this is disposed of, we will be getting ready for the 2004 election campaigns. Why not abolish the FEC, institute immediate full disclosure of all donations on the Internet, and let the people decide about money in politics?