January 20, 2010
Transparency in Campaign Finance vs. Gov’t Spending
I posted my 2009 campaign finances report yesterday, as required. There’s no pass for suspended campaigns, which meant some late nights of data entry. Still, it is fun sport for 24 hours to “geek out” over who raised what money, from whom and from where. Texts arrived teaching me a new shorthand, COH = cash on hand. I have almost none, which should not be a surprise for a suspended campaign! It is posted, and kudos goes to the first person who can figure out my campaign budget for coffee. It had to be sizable, as it is the vice that I picked up on the campaign trail.
Why the emphasis on campaign finance transparency? We know the history of corrupt politicians and their friends using campaigns and governing as a way to obtain power and line their pockets. The intent to stop that behavior is right, and transparency is the right thing. Iowa needs to go further. I reported contributions; government should detail revenue (keeping personal information hidden of course). I reported spending to the penny; every expenditure of government should be easily searched and reviewed by the public. I reported relationships (i.e. parent, spouse, etc) in my reporting; government should better disclose the relationships of donors, contractors, past staff and lobbyists. It is time for Iowa to put in place a searchable database for state finances, with as near real-time posting of information as possible. It would make the quiet corruption of quid pro quo politics, and debacles like the Iowa Film Office scandel, less likely. If the legislature does not require such a system, individual officials should choose to implement such a system on their own.
With my finance report filed, I do want to point out two gifts that meant the world to me. My two boys, Luther (7 years-old) and Ty (5 years-old), found crumpled dollar bills in their room, put them in a jar, and left them on the dinner table, which was my campaign home office most of the fall. To boys at that age, that counts as an “all-in” effort!
