Howard Dean cut funding for clean elections...

[Dookus]

while trying to find if Common Cause had made any public statements about Dean's sealing of his public records, I came across this.

Friday, December 21, 2001

"Governor Dean's proposal to gut the Vermont clean election fund is a big step backwards in the effort to get special interest money out of politics, " said Scott Harshbarger, President of Common Cause.

"Vermont was the first state to establish an election process relying on partial public financing. The Governor's action - cutting money specially designated to help promote clean elections -- is the wrong way to solve the state's financial problems. In tough times, leaders need every measure of trust they can find, as they make tough decisions between caring for needy children and paving highways and doing everything else a state needs to do, with less money. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the Governor has tried to undermine the clean money system. In the last election, after promising to abide by the Clean Elections guidelines and set an example for other candidates, he changed his mind at the last moment and undermined the integrity of the system. We ask Governor Dean to stop using the clean money fund as a punching bag, and allow Vermont candidates to free themselves from wealthy contributors."

http://www.commoncause.org/publications/dec01/122101%5F2.htm

Can anybody explain what this is about? Did Dean ever restore funding? Thanks.

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Uh gee...

Maybe he was trying to balance the budget again? With the WarChimp's tax cuts, I can't blame Dean for trying to find the money to cut... The first tax cut was enacted on June 7th 2001.

Dean, after all, is a fiscal conservative.

Do you realize that Dean is running what he calls a campaign finance reform, after he opted out from the public funds after he realized that he could raise far more than 45 million (he's already at 40 million and counting by the second)...

I'm waiting for your argument for that one.

Hawkeye-X

[Dookus]

2. I'm not sure I understand your question...

my argument for what? Why a candidate would walk away from years of Democratic belief in public campaign financing? I can't justify it. I think it's wrong.

Not sure what you're asking.

However, this thread isn't about that. It's about him cutting funding for clean elections.

[hellhathnofury]

3. So we can match Bushie come election time.

Plus, we are campaign finance reform. I gave my 25$.

[Hawkeye-X]

4. Yes. I just answered your question

Pay attention. I said he may have cut funding after Warchimp's first tax cut, which was enacted June 7th 2001. The article you are implying is dated December 2001. That's about five months difference.

Hawkeye-X

[Dookus]

5. Hawkeye.... please.

I really can't understand what you're saying. Can you try to compose a few complete sentences that explain it?

From what I'm reading, you're saying Dean cut funding for clean elections in Vermont because George W. Bush cut federal taxes. I don't see the connection.

Furthermore, since this was AFTER the debacle of 2000, why would he even CONSIDER cutting funding for clean elections?

Why would you even consider supporting it?

Oh right... cuz Dean did it.

[clarknyc]

6. You don't need to be so condescending.

Do you?

[Dookus]

8. Sure I can...

it's not a right limited to Dean supporters.

Perhaps you'd like to explain why, in the wake of the 2000 election fiasco, Gov. Dean cut funding for clean elections?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

7. Dean's record on campaign finance is not a good one.`

Dean made headlines in March for vowing to attack any candidate that didn't commit to public financing like he was.
http://timesargus.nybor.com/Local/Story/61946.html

Of course as we know, once Dean realized he was doing better than he expected, he broke that vow.

Interestingly enough, it's not the first time he backtracked on such a pledge, he'd done so in an earlier governor's race. http://www.rutlandherald.com/News/Story/70402.html

And as you learned, he went even further and tried to permanently remove funding for Vermont's public financing system altogether.

Governor Dean's Plan to Remove Funding

Early on in the 2002 legislative session, Democratic Governor Howard Dean targeted the public financing provision of the law for elimination. VPIRG led the effort to preserve funding for public financing of qualifying candidates. The Governor claimed that the law was not working and therefore should not be funded until a final court decision has been reached. Working with Republicans, Progressives and Democrats, VPIRG was able to keep public financing alive (although hundreds of thousands of dollars were taken for other unrelated uses).
http://www.vpirg.org/campaigns/financeReform/cfr_page111.html

[Dookus]

9. Sad...

especially considering the 2000 election fiasco. Everybody here was calling for INCREASED funding for clean elections, as I recall.

It's a damned shame, really.

I have to add clean elections to the list of "liberal" ideas tossed by the wayside by Dean supporters:

Reasonable gun control
Open government
progressive taxation

now clean elections and campaign finance.

[Clark4VotingRights]

10. Dean has not shined on this issue. He's shown tremendous hypocracy.

Esp by breaking his vow to comply with federal spending
guidelines in campaigns.

[Hawkeye-X]

11. And Clark is much better?

With his ties to Club for Growth and their attack ads against Dean, hmm.

So much for "above the fray" meme.

Hawkeye-X

[Dookus]

13. Clark

has spoken out very forcefully recently in favor of clean elections.

He wants to ensure that 2000 isn't repeated. He's called for election monitors throughout "troubled" places to make sure all americans can cast their votes safely and have them counted.

Clark is FOR clean elections, very outspokenly so. Dean cut funding for clean elections.

[Hawkeye-X]

16. And yet, he forgot the mention of Rush Holt or any paper trails

to back up the voting system.

Well, he can puff all he wants. He's all cattle, and no hat.

Hawkeye-X

[QC]

24. ROFLMAO!

He's all cattle, and no hat.

I think you mean "all hat and no cattle."

[Dookus]

25. LOL...

good catch.

[tameszu]

15. This is completely specious

The Club for Growth has relentlessly Dems and moderate Republicans for years. And I can connect Dean to almost any important event within 2-3 degrees of separation. This argument is about as silly as claiming that Dean is really a Bush plant because they both went to Yale, and now it's one Eli rubbing another's back.

[Hawkeye-X]

17. Afraid not.

The connection between Club for Growth and Clark is too much of a coincedence to be dismissed.

Hawkeye-X

[Dookus]

19. your one-note

is tiresome, hawkeye. This thread is about Dean and clean elections. You wanna smear Clark on another topic, start another thread.

Tell me... do YOU think Dean should have cut funding for clean elections in the wake of 2000?

[Hawkeye-X]

23. If he wanted to balance the budget, then the answer is YES.

The money had to be cut from somewhere. Even with popular programs.

Hawkeye-X

[ThirdWheelLegend]

12. But Dean has polls and money...so who cares!?

Actually it's unfortunate that the standard which he said he would other candidates to, is the standard he breaks and then has more money with which to gain advantage over those same candidates he was holding to that high standard.

:shrug:

TWL

[Printer70]

14. One of the Difficulties

...with having political experience is that you have had to make tough decisions. For instance, you can cut financing for taxpayer-funded elections or create a deficit in your state. Someone like Wesley Clark has no such record and while this allows him to avoid such criticism, we have no idea how he would handle the situation. Judging by his performance thus far, he would likely say he would do both and hope no one calls him on it.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Dookus]

20. So you think

cutting clean-elections funding was the right thing to do, even in the light of the 2000 elections?

[Hawkeye-X]

22. Excuse me.

You're STILL not paying attention. Warchimp's tax cut was in effect, and states were starting to lose revenue because of that tax cut, and Dean had to find a way to balance the budget and keep his record straight, which he did successfully. Remember that despite the fact that 2000 elections were over, it was still successful because Gore carried Vermont with no problems whatsoever.

Hawkeye-X

[Forkboy]

21. Can anyone explain why he did so

before this thread gets to 80 responses of nothingness :)

[hedda_foil]

26. Certainly.

Here's a link to a statement from the Vermont Secretary of State which explains the whole situation quite clearly. Google is an amazing thing.

http://vermont-elections.org/elections1/pubfundmemo2002.html

[Forkboy]

27. Thanks Hedda!

I was too lazy in my illness to google and search through all the hits for the answer :)

[Skywalker]

28. Balanced Budget

By State law the budget in Vermont must be balanced. The reason why Vermont was so adversely affected by Bush's tax cuts is because our taxes are tied to a percentage of the federal taxes. That and there are so many unfunded mandates spewing from the Fed as well.

Mark