Most federal officials are limited by federal ethics regulations to a threshold of about $35 when accepting or exchanging gifts. As an army officer, I was always taught this was as much about preventing the perception on the part of the American people that officials were being bribed. In my business career, we had a similar policy at Overstock regarding company employees accepting gifts from vendors. I think the problem with accepting large donations or gifts is more than mere perception. Campaign finance law is out of step with the principle of human psychology underlying both federal ethics laws and Overstock’s corporate policy: when people give you a big donation, they expect something in return. We understand this at a deep level, and when a public official accepts a large donation, they understand it and they know it is wrong even if it is legal. This is a clear case of what the Arbinger Institute calls “self betrayal” in their classic book Leadership and Self Deception. Once you betray your instincts in such a way, your brain actually starts to filter information to justify the self betrayal. You become less able to see the facts as they are because your own mind is now working against you. You deceive yourself. In Leadership and Self Deception, the Arbinger Institute, a global organization with a headquarters in Farmington, argues that this self deception is at the root of much organizational dysfunction and inefficiency. I think this self deception, particularly as it relates to campaign finance reform, is also at the root of much of the conflict, dysfunction and inefficiency in our government. People argue earnestly, for instance, that unlimited donations are necessary as an instance of free speech, citing the Constitution. But this is faulty reasoning, and it is obviously counter to what the founders intended when they protected an equal right to free speech for all Americans. americancityandcounty/blog/mccutcheon-v-fec-violates-equal-protection-clause
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 12:37:21 +0000
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