No Small Change

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/07/AR2008010702262.html

"The only way to eliminate the disproportionate influence of lobbyists is to break Congress's nymphomaniacal lust for campaign funds. Otherwise, we will forever be getting remedies that sound good in a presidential debate but that don't really matter all that much (and that in any event affect only one branch of government, the presidency). Edwards won't take money from lobbyists, but he will take it from negligence lawyers; Obama is similarly chaste, but his hand is out to consultants and others who, while not registered as lobbyists, nevertheless represent special interests."

In this op-ed, Cohen hearkens back to a great American president who stood up to the emerging corporations in the age of growing monopolies; Teddy Roosevelt, who was the first sitting president to advocate for full public financing of campaigns. Things have only gotten worse since the era of the robber barons, and our country, democracy, and way of life has taken a turn for the worse as the maximization of profit has superseded the public good.

With all of these different candidates, both Republican and Democrat, calling for "change in Washington," we better start hearing more of them advocate for clean, fair, public funded elections if they want us to believe this change is coming.