Take 'For Sale' sign off government

Big campaign contributions and fundraising - pay to play - are swirling around the Blagojevich scandal just like in the related Tony Rezko scandal, the George Ryan scandal and countless other scandals at all levels of government. Most big contributions in return for paybacks are not explicit and therefore are legal. They are tacit understandings that are part of the political culture or are nudged into being with sufficiently indirect communication.

Politicians' relentless pursuit of campaign contributions too often veers into corruption. So it becomes critical how campaign money is provided - whether in large private amounts, small private amounts or in public funding.

Some states have seen the light. To reduce the power and corruption of big money, Maine and Arizona have had voluntary public funding including small contributions over five election cycles and it has worked well. Connecticut joined them this past election.

Besides disconnecting politicians from big donors and encouraging the connection with ordinary citizens, this kind of system levels the playing field making it more likely candidates will win because of their ideas rather than their money.

It is less productive to lament the shortcomings of politicians' character than to come up with a system that reduces the likelihood that these shortcomings will have adverse effect. A combination of small contributions and public funding will remove the "For Sale" sign from government, clean up politics and further merit-based decision-making.

Richard Barsanti

Western Springs