Ben Wilcox
Ben Wilcox
basically discourage protect rigged system
The system has basically been rigged to protect incumbents and discourage competition.
basic booth common conflict draw interest voters voting
When voters go into the voting booth and they read what's being proposed, it's going to be like common sense to them. It's a basic conflict of interest for legislators to draw their own districts.
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.
meet pay people
People are still going to meet in restaurants. They may just have to pay their own way.
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.
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.
allowed bush campaign financing florida funding meant money party public raised stopped
Bush raised money up to that level, then stopped and allowed the party to take over the funding of the campaign and the advertising. After that point, public financing in Florida has not really been doing what it was meant to do in the beginning.
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.
campaign certainly consumers
Consumers aren't able to make significant campaign contributions - and certainly not in that league.
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.
loss voters
It's a loss for the voters of Florida.
campaign committees finance giving help hoping interests people power return special typical wealthy
It's kind of typical campaign finance in Florida. You find these wealthy special interests who are giving to committees and candidates, people with power to help them. . . . They're doing it as an investment, hoping for a return on their investment.
committee disclose intent law money parties require spending
It's kind of troublesome. They're getting around the intent of the law to require that parties and committee disclose what they're spending their money on.