Money and Politics: Reforming a Troubling Nexus

Today, the need for massive amounts of campaign money impacts who runs for public office and who wins our elections. And once elected, our leaders must spend more and more time raising campaign funds, which means less time doing the public's business. Perhaps most disturbing, there is a strong perception among the public that the flow of money is distorting our national agenda and influencing the legislation that is introduced and passed.

Millions of Americans are deeply concerned, even disillusioned, by the accountability of elected officials to special interest donors rather than to the voters who elect them. Americans for Campaign Reform, the Brennan Center for Justice and the Wolfson Center for National Affairs will host a panel discussion to delve into the impact of money on our political system, and weigh the different approaches to solving the problem including ethics reform, regulation of lobbying activity and public funding of elections.

This marks the first time that Senator Rudman has spoken about why he now supports public funding of our federal elections.

The panel features:
Warren G. Rudman, former Senator (R-NH)
Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen
John Rauh, founder and president of Americans for Campaign Reform
Michael Waldman, director of the Brennan Center for Justice

This discussion took place on Tuesday, February 27th, 2007