On Former North Carolina Governor Mike Easley: Should “political committees” funded by special interests who received allocated and/or legislated benefits, indirectly pay the monetary penalties for the politicians they financed?

Make politicians pay

 

Former Gov. Mike Easley displayed a very casual attitude about important matters in his testimony before the State Board of Elections last week.

 

"Well, to my knowledge I don't think I've ever seen a campaign report," Easley said in response to a question from Chairman Larry Leake.

 

That most likely would be different if he could be held personally responsible for the $100,000 fine levied by the board for failure to report the value of flights he took as a candidate traveling to political events. Instead, his campaign organization was ordered to pay.

 

The latest document filed by the Mike Easley Committee showed it had $164,000 in cash on hand on June 30, down from $427,000 on Jan. 1. If its assets have fallen below $100,000 by now, the full fine might never be paid.

 

Whether it is or isn't, Easley doesn't have to open his own wallet. But state law should require a candidate to pay such fines from personal funds when his or her campaign violates the law. Letting fat-cat, favor-seeking donors pay offers little incentive for the candidate to play by the rules.

 

Easley found it convenient to tell the board he just didn't know…He was just too busy with weightier issues than to concern himself with how some $20 million was raised and spent in the course of two gubernatorial campaigns.

 

The board…could have taken tougher direct action if state law allowed it to fine Easley personally. The legislature should open such an avenue for future cases.

 

It also should plug the campaign finance loophole that lets donors give unlimited contributions to a party, and the party to spend unlimited amounts on behalf of a candidate. What's the point of restricting how much a donor can give to a candidate? One way or another, a generous contributor can win a governor's gratitude and put himself in position to receive special treatment from a state agency, or appointment to a board or commission, or some other benefit in return.

 

Editorial Board

Greensboro News and Record, November 5, 2009