To the Editor:
Question 1 supporters claim that the new law will increase transparency and accountability and return power to the voter. This is total hogwash.
Making candidates use valuable advertising space to list donors will not help anybody except those who sell advertising. All the information on who donates is already available online with Maine Ethics Committee. If you want to know just look it up.
Question 1 has nothing to do with returning control to the Maine people. The people already have power in the form of their vote and every registered voter gets one vote. There is no power to return to the Maine people because they already have it.
Increasing fines and penalties will only pad the coffers of the election fund itself. My review of ethics violations showed only minimal fines levied, mostly for late filing penalties. It is unlikely that any dark evil deeds will be eliminated by increasing fines and penalties.
The big money spent in politics comes from PAC spending and Question 1 will not change that at all. Question 1 will increase funding levels to political candidates by around 300 percent and cost the taxpayers and job creators of Maine millions.
They propose that State House and Senate candidates who currently receive funding at levels of about $5000 and $22,000 respectively be raised to $15,000 and $60,000.
Keep in mind they run for office every two years and there are 151 house seats and 35 Senate seats in the state. Do the math. This is a lot of money that could be better used for seniors on waiting lists and to fully fund our schools. No more welfare for politicians, vote “No” on Question 1.
