Bush raised money up to that level, then stopped and allowed the party to take over the funding of the campaign and the advertising. After that point, public financing in Florida has not really been doing what it was meant to do in the beginning. |
Consumers aren't able to make significant campaign contributions - and certainly not in that league. |
I can see a potential for abuse. |
I don't see why she couldn't make a contribution out of her own pocket. I don't know why she has to use taxpayer money. |
I just don't think businesses spend money like that just in the interest of good government and helping people get their ideas out. I think they're looking for a return on their investment. They're shopping in this case for a governor -- somebody willing to give them access. |
I think it would be significant campaign finance reform. It would be a serious attempt to deal with what we believe is the most common avenue for special interest contributions. |
I think that's where you see the real use of money to buy influence because in this case, they're not even principled enough to be supporting one candidate over another. They just want to have access and influence with whoever wins. They're just basically hedging their bets. |
I think we've seen in this session and in past sessions a kind of an arrogance from the legislature that they know best rather than the people. They don't trust the people to make decisions in their own interest. |
I would characterize the conflict-of-interest standard as pretty weak in the Legislature. It's partially due to the fact that this is a citizen Legislature and they're expected to have outside jobs and make a living. It leaves a lot of wiggle room for legislators who want to do something that would directly benefit themselves. |
If it's being done just to hide their real vote, I don't think that's the way to go. I find it kind of hard to imagine that there would be that many people that would be fooled by it. |
It (the current system) is a question of who's in power and who is able to use the process for political purposes. |
It gives us some guidelines for coming back and drawing an amendment that will pass the court's muster. |
It is definitely still an avenue for lobbyists and special interests to buy access and influence. |
It shows their real intent, which is to shut down the initiative process and the ability for groups to gather signatures and put something on the ballot. |
It speaks to the issue of money and politics. It appears they're voting one way to please one group of people and changing that vote in hopes of getting campaign contributions later on. |