What's it going to take to get special interests out of government? And I mean ALL special interests, big business, big labor, big religion, the Likud Party ...
In a representative consitutional democratic capitalist republic......the people with the money will always have thier interests represented in a superior way within the representative government....unless....the number of disenfranchised voters grows large enough and dedicated enough to vote out representatives who support those with more money.
I've said this over and over again. Replace Congress with 8-9 more focused, specialized houses of Congress where the politicians ONLY focus on specialized topics and legislation. Create an environment where people will actually elect specialists and experts in specific fields, rather than great politicians who can talk a good game about things but really doesn't know jack crap about anything. In that environment, people elect for specific issues. If you want a congressman in the pocket of unions, then elect that congressman to teh house of education or the house of Congress. If you want a private sector military lobbyist in office instead of a former US General, then elect that guy to the House of defense. This prevents people from selling votes on things they don't care about, and makes the voting process more specific. You vote for the politicians abilities and experience in the very section of government they will make the biggest impact. Wedge issues are off teh table (unless that is their specific house of Congress) because most guys won't even be able to impact them in any way. Finally, take party affiliation off the ballots. Each candidate for office is allowed a single page advertisement of their promises, skills, experience (about THEM, not their opponent) that is permitted in the ballot box, but no party affiliation listed in the ballot box anywhere. Make people study the promises of the candidates and hold them accountable to them.
Public funding will get private money out of the election system, but it will hardly make a dent in the rest of the system. I'm still wondering what kind of 'chute Cheney got from Halliburton when he left office.
I think private electioneering should be dissallowed. Just have a series of publically funded debates, with no commericals, and make primaries non party specific. Just politicians, without campaign ads or stump speeches, all on a level playing field. You could broadcast all the debates at the public libraries, so even homeless and poor people could see them.
I think we should have a single campaign regulation. All money being spent should be linked to a person. That person's name should be public record. If a corporation, then all shareholders shoudl be listed.