Huffington Magazine Issue 72 | Page 62

ANTOINE ANTONIOL/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES CRACKING THE CODE “Some would call that government subsidy,” Painter said. “I don’t. I think that’s a taxpayer’s money. It’s not the government’s money. And my view is that if you pay taxes, you ought to be able to designate some of that money for the process of choosing who is going to spend the money.” All the new energy around campaign finance reform notwithstanding, the effort still faces an uphill battle. “I think it will probably take some critical issue or scandal or monumental event to move Congress to actually act on this, because the record low approval rating, all the other frustrations voiced by the American public, really doesn’t seem to be moving this,” Rep. O’Rourke said. Indeed, Congress created much of the current campaign finance regulatory system after the Watergate scandal, and the McCainFeingold reform legislation passed immediately following the Enron scandal in 2002. “It’s not an implausible final step,” said Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, referring to waiting for a moment of public outrage. “It’s probably the easiest step of all.” HUFFINGTON 10.27.13 But sometimes even scandal isn’t enough to facilitate change. There was, after all, a push for reform in 2009 and 2010 as well, following a global financial meltdown that many traced back to the financial industry’s influence in Washington. That effort came up short. This is where the divide between the new and old reformers comes into stark relief. While the new class of reformers are focused on selling a “bold” bill to gr