Sen. Lou Correa attacks free-speech rights

Dec. 5, 2012

By John Seiler

Campaign finance “reform” always means one thing: attacking the other guy’s funding sources under the guise of “good government.”

That’s happening with a bill by state Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, to reveal so-called “dark money” contributions. This is supposed the end the problem from the last campaign of contributions coming from unknown Arizona donors to California initiatives and Republican candidates. Except that it didn’t take long for the donors to be revealed. And the donors are unlikely to repeat their action because they lost on every campaign.

So it’s another typical California charade of a solution seeking a problem. And get this:

“Working with Fair Political Practices Commission staff, Correa has crafted Senate Bill 27, which would apply existing state campaign disclosure laws to nonprofit donations if the nonprofit is less than two years old, gave more than $500,000 in its first contribution to a California-regulated campaign, or has been giving donations to California campaigns in the last calendar year or four previous years.”

So a state bureaucracy cooperated in making its bureaucratic function more powerful. And the “reform” makes California’s already labyrinthine campaign laws even more complicated. Meaning fewer real people — that is, non-government functionaries or campaign consultants — will get involved in the whole mess. The insular Establishment, which in California now exclusively means Democrats like Correa, gains even more power at the expense of the “little guy.”

And free speech rights overall are reduced.

Welcome to clean government!