Common Sense in the Hawkeye State

December 9, 2008   •  By Sean Parnell
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We’ve been keeping an eye on Iowa, where there appears to be a concerted effort to establish taxpayer-funded political campaigns for state legislature (typically these programs are simply called “clean elections,” in Iowa they’ve chosen to double down on their euphemisms by calling it “voter-owned clean elections).

Today’s Des Moines Register reports that Kevin McCarthy, Democratic Majority Leader in the Iowa General Assembly, smartly rejects the “voter-owned elections” advocates:

McCarthy said that so-called Voter Owned Iowa Clean Elections legislation, which would create a system of public financing for legislative and statewide campaigns, is “flat out bad.” It would cause taxpayer money to rain down in districts where candidates typically spend far less on campaigns, and would cause corporations to control the parties, he said.

As a former resident of the Hawkeye State, it’s great to see Majority Leader McCarthy display the common sense I recall being so widespread in Iowa. The state has enough trouble right now (as do the other 49 states), putting politicians on the public dole is probably the last thing they need to waste time considering or finding funds for.

Sean Parnell

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