The Des Moines Register
Thursday, October 23, 1997, Page 14A
letters@news.dmreg.com
Getting money out of politics
In answer to Senator Paul Wellstone's opinion article of Oct. 13 ("Quiet Crisis: Money, Power, Injustice"), there is a way to get some of the big money out of politics. It's called the voter initiative, and it has been introduced in the Iowa House of Representatives by state Representative Michael Cormack as House Joint Resolution 8.
The voter initiative allows citizens to place legislation directly on the ballot for the next election by collecting signatures on ballot petitions. It allow citizens the right to enact laws without going through the process of introducing the law through an elected representative.
The advantage of the initiative process is that lobbyists with big money cannot influence the outcome of such legislation by making huge contributions to political campaigns. To influence such a process, the lobbyists would have to take their cause directly to the public. Although the intiative would not be a perfect solution to big money politics, it would be a big improvement.
-- Carl E. Olsen, secretary,
Libertarian Party of Iowa
1116 E. Seneca Ave., Des Moines.