Support campaign financing

March 23, 2007
Letters to the Editor

Your latest editorial on the city's experiment in public financing of political candidates ("The real tweak to election financing," March 19) unfortunately was in the same tone as past ones: sarcastic and belittling.

Yes, someone scammed the system the first time around. She was caught, thanks largely to your good reporters, and the law was enforced. The law likely needs tightening. But that's no reason to throw it out.

The Oregonian has bemoaned the perverse influence of special-interest money on lawmaking at times in the past. Public campaign financing is the best way to reduce the influence, not restrictions that easily can be circumvented.

A number of states are trying public campaign financing, including Arizona, where the current governor used public funding in her campaign.

I suspect Portlanders favor the program. Arguably, they have indirectly spoken already. They had a chance to sign the business-backed petitions to refer the issue to the the ballot; the petition campaign flopped. And City Commissioner Erik Sten, a key architect of the public funding plan, last year won re-election against a business-backed challenger who attacked the plan.

CHARLES E. BEGGS Salem