Once more on finance

Any number of studies by citizen-interest groups have shown that big money from single sources have bought and owned the votes on Congress on a range of issues, yet opponents to campaign finance reform continue to perversely base their opposition on the grounds of freedom of speech. The current finance system clearly is far from free.

So the Senate vote expected during the next several on the slimmed and snipped McCain-Feingold reform bill will find the senators from the states of Tobacco, Oil, Pharmaceutical, Trial Lawyerland, Banking, etc., arguing that their right to be bribed must never be restricted. The Maine public, having demonstrated that it does not much care whether Congress passes substantive reform, might at least take a moment to acknowledge that its two senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, have landed on the right side of this issue.

The right side bans soft money – the unlimited funds funneled through political parties to candidates. Previously, it did much more, like address spending by third parties and offer TV time to help challengers. Unwavering opposition, not by the majority of senators but by a minority armed with the ability to filibuster, has reduced what was once sweeping reform to a simple ban on soft money. Even that might not be enough; another eight Republicans are needed to overcome a filibuster and their votes are by no means certain. (Democrats already are signed on.)

Though McCain-Feingold is a shadow of its former self, it may regain some of its previous form through amendments that sponsors are eager to attach. Many are worthy, including a measure by Sen. Snowe to require reporting by advocacy groups that spend at least $10,000 annually on electioneering. Also welcome would be an increase on the ceiling of the amount of money an individual may give, at least to a level that reflects inflation since the current amount was adopted. The caution, of course, is that, with the vote count so close, nothing should be added that would discourage would-be supporters.

Congress has been considering and rejecting campaign finance reform for more than a decade and, every year, the system has gotten worse, the voters more cynical. The bare-bones legislation before the Senate gives the nation a start on the path to real reform. Senators should support it before they are permanently identified by their favorite lobby rather than their favorite state.