Illustration credit: Big Fur Hat
There is no question that Virginia needs to clean up its laws regarding the giving of gifts, and the reporting of those gifts, to public officials. The sole encouraging aspect of the ongoing GiftGate saga is that there appears to be near-unanimous agreement, even among elected officials, upon the need for reform. Here at Bacon’s Rebellion, we will do our small part to keep the heat on legislators to make good.
But let’s not pretend that the fundamental problem of money in politics will change. Matt Mitchell makes the case quiet plainly on the Neighborhood Effects blog associated with the Mercatus Institute at George Mason University.
As long as elected officials are expected to dole out lucrative privileges to particular firms, particular firms will want to play in the political sandbox.
Even if Virginia adopted a complete ban on all gifts of any size to elected officials and their family members, I predict firms and their leaders would still donate to political action committees, they’d endorse candidates, they’d sponsor third-party political advertisements, they’d organize get-out-the-vote efforts, and they’d host fundraisers and campaign events. In an endless game of whack-a-mole, reformers could no doubt try to curtail these efforts too (with the First Amendment a likely casualty). But so long as businesses face such lucrative incentives to play politics, the reformers will always be one step behind.
A better—more permanent, and more direct—reform would strike at the heart of the quid-pro-quo problem. It would limit the government’s ability to favor particular firms in the first place. This would require the elimination of all targeted tax exemptions and credits. … The state would also need to eliminate all programs that make grants or loans to particular firms (you can see a listing of such programs here).
In one fell swoop, these types of reforms would instantly remove the incentive for firms to seek the favor of politicians.
Well said. I would argue only with Mitchell’s conclusion. His proposed reforms would eliminate some of the incentives for firms to seek the favor of politicians, but many of the biggest incentives would remain. As long as state and local governments play a role in transportation, land use, education, health care, insurance, banking, utilities and a host of other industries, favor-seeking will always be with us.
— JAB
