Welfare for Politicians
30th November 2009
“Albany should emulate New York City’s public financing of campaigns, which promotes competition and lessens the corrupting influence of special interests,” the New York Times advises in an editorial this morning. How’s that “public financing of campaigns” working out for New York City? Well, it’s hard to credit the law with promoting competition when, as this article notes, “Over the past two decades, incumbent New York City Council members have enjoyed a 97.5 percent rate of re-election.” And it’s hard to credit the law with countering corruption, when, as this article reports, the council “for years used slush funds, stowed in the names of fictional organizations, to sidestep budget rules and bestow political favors.