Solution to Capital problems is campaign finance reform

Letter to the Editor, Capital Times Forum page/Voice of the People

I must say that I was dismayed after reading the political discussion in The Wisconsin Way’s position paper, “Wisconsin at the Crossroads.” I found this discussion lacking in candor if not disingenuous. I believe that many citizens will read this segment and feel disheartened by such a simplistic analysis of the central political problem facing Wisconsin. Are we really expected to believe that the single greatest problem at our state Capital should be understood and has to do simply with partisan gridlock and ideological inflexibility?

It’s not that “our elected officials are trapped in a political process that thrives on issue polarization.” Rather it’s you and I, the voters and taxpayers of this state, who are trapped by allowing the rich and powerful to own our lawmakers. Our legislators are doing just fine, thank you, by repeatedly staying in office owing to big fat contributions year after year.

Any fair and honest discussion of the present context and process of policy making at our Capital it seems to me must, at its center, be focused on the corrupt pay-to-play culture that exists there. What good would be accomplished if the people of Wisconsin, through a state-wide conversation and consensus, for example, should come to the conclusion that indeed corporations in Wisconsin should be taxed more and also by the community in which they are located?

This enraged citizen taxpayer believes that any solution that ignores the need for comprehensive campaign finance reform in Wisconsin will be a paper tiger and go the same way as most other such initiatives have gone. It will be little more than shifting the sand piles around because reform, without the people owning and controlling their government, is futile.

Respectfully,

William R. Benedict