Ben Wilcox
Ben Wilcox
arrogance best decisions past people rather seen session trust
I think we've seen in this session and in past sessions a kind of an arrogance from the legislature that they know best rather than the people. They don't trust the people to make decisions in their own interest.
access basically buy candidate influence money principled supporting whoever
I think that's where you see the real use of money to buy influence because in this case, they're not even principled enough to be supporting one candidate over another. They just want to have access and influence with whoever wins. They're just basically hedging their bets.
attempt avenue believe campaign common deal finance interest serious special
I think it would be significant campaign finance reform. It would be a serious attempt to deal with what we believe is the most common avenue for special interest contributions.
benefit citizen directly due expected fact jobs leaves outside room standard weak wiggle
I would characterize the conflict-of-interest standard as pretty weak in the Legislature. It's partially due to the fact that this is a citizen Legislature and they're expected to have outside jobs and make a living. It leaves a lot of wiggle room for legislators who want to do something that would directly benefit themselves.
drawing florida hoped opportunity people speak whether
We had hoped that the people of Florida would have an opportunity to speak on this question, whether they want self-interested politicians drawing their own districts. We just have to go back to the drawing board.
amendment coming drawing gives guidelines pass
It gives us some guidelines for coming back and drawing an amendment that will pass the court's muster.
committed election however issue lee pass senator sign top tough willing
It's going to come down to however much Senator Lee is willing to make this a top priority. It's a tough issue to pass in an election year. But every sign I've seen, Senator Lee is committed to making it a priority.
ability gather groups initiative process shows shut
It shows their real intent, which is to shut down the initiative process and the ability for groups to gather signatures and put something on the ballot.
business gets
It's where the real business in Tallahassee gets transacted.
charge issue partisan power
It's not a partisan issue, it's a power issue - who's in charge at the time.
current political power process question
It (the current system) is a question of who's in power and who is able to use the process for political purposes.
campaign certainly consumers
Consumers aren't able to make significant campaign contributions - and certainly not in that league.
behind campaigns cost encourage financing hold levels people public
The whole idea behind public financing was to hold down the cost of campaigns and encourage more people to participate. Now they've escalated campaign fund-raising to levels we've never seen.
against battle cancer event fund help hundred raise research year
This exceptional event will help fund research in the battle against cancer. Each year more than a hundred racers come out and raise more than $20,000 in just one day.