Mass. Gov. sidesteps campaign finance rules

The democrats (and pseudo-republicans like Senator McCain) are always yapping about the corrupting influence of money in election campaigns, and are big supporters of so-called "campaign finance reform" limiting how folks can spend their own money. Unless, of course, it benefits them.

Governor Deval Patrick has scheduled a picnic fund-raiser this month at his vacation estate in the Berkshires, where he will once again exploit a method he pioneered for skirting state campaign contribution limits, a funding system the Legislature so far has declined to shut down.

Guests at the gathering at the 7,500-square-foot mansion situated on 77 acres in Richmond are being asked to contribute up to $5,500 to the governor's Seventy-First Fund. The fund - as the formal invitation to the soiree explains - divides the contributions between Patrick's campaign and the state Democratic Party.

What the invitation does not say is that the Democratic Party, in turn, uses most of its share of the money to pay off Patrick's campaign expenses. That allows Patrick to get around the state's $500 limit on individual contributions to candidates, by giving him most of the benefit of the additional $5,000, the maximum an individual can give to a political party.

Read the rest here. The whole idea of campaign-finance reform, of restricting how much an individual can give of his own money, is neither effective, nor (in my opinion) constitutional. Disclosure requirements are fine, but limits on donations only serve to entrench and protect incumbents, which, not surprisingly, is why many incumbents support such limits.

Given that Gov. Patrick is a democrat, and the Massachusetts legislature is solidly democrat-controlled, don't expect this "loophole" (as the anti-gunners are fond of saying) to be closed anytime soon. At least, not unless the next Mass. governor is a republican.