Pilot Has Gumption, Clinton Has Chutzpah
If Hughes had managed to deliver his letters, here's what the interns who open the mail would have read: “I'm demanding reform and declaring a voter's rebellion in a manner consistent with Jefferson's description of rights in the Declaration of Independence. As a member of Congress, you have three options. 1. You may pretend corruption does not exist. 2. You may pretend to oppose corruption while you sabotage reform. 3. You may actively participate in real reform.”
Stirring stuff. But what is “real reform” exactly? Hughes is a bit fuzzy on that.
He's certain that the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission needs to go. Beyond that, his website mentions “Free and Fair Elections (without fraud),” “Shutting down the control of Special Interests and Lobbyists,” “End profiteering by Congress while in office” and – those magic words – “Campaign Finance Reform.”
The day before Hughes' daring flight, Clinton was traveling around Iowa, chatting with “ordinary” citizens who had been carefully selected and chauffeured to her events.
“I think it's fair to say that ... the deck is still stacked in favor of those already at the top,” she said without the scarcest hint of irony.
Earlier in the day, Clinton told The Washington Post that she wanted to fix the country's “dysfunctional” campaign finance system, “even backing a constitutional amendment if necessary.”
Like the high-flying Hughes, the former secretary of state, U.S. senator and first lady was vague on the particulars. “We do have a plan,” she told The Post. “We have a plan for my plan.”
Plan for a plan or not, this much is certain: Clinton is so enthusiastic about tamping down the influence of big money in politics that she's willing to raise $2.5 billion to ensure she's elected to do something about it.
Demands for reform are meaningless without details. As it happens, we have a fair idea of what campaign finance “reform” would look like.
To back a “constitutional amendment if necessary” requires repealing and replacing the First Amendment. The U.S. Senate last year debated a constitutional amendment proposed by Sen. Tom Udall, D-New Mexico, that would give Congress and states the unfettered power to “regulate the raising and spending of money and in-kind equivalents” in elections.
Udall offers a fig leaf to the media in section 3: “Nothing in this article shall be construed to grant Congress the power to abridge the freedom of the press.” But that's not much of a guarantee at all.
Remember, a political film that happened to be unfavorable toward Clinton was at issue in the Citizens United case. When then-Solicitor General Elena Kagan defended the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law before the high court, she couldn't say one way or the other whether the FEC could actually ban books. The law left the door open.
But the First Amendment offers a clear and unambiguous answer, free of legal obfuscation: “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”
Be careful what you wish for, reformers. It's understandable that Hillary would want to shut up her critics. Her penchant for secrecy is legendary, and she hardly speaks with the press as it is.
But is a vastly expanded regulatory regime really why Hughes flew his gyrocopter to Congress? It sure looks that way. I'm glad the Florida mailman survived his flight, but I hope his cause crashes and burns.
This piece originally appeared in The Sacramento Bee
This piece originally appeared in The Sacramento Bee