From the Aug. 9 edition of the Register-News
By:
A grateful thanks
for honoring Joe
To the editor:
The family of Joseph A. Mercantini, Sr. would like to take this opportunity to thank those of you involved in the dedication of the Burlington Street Annex Little League Field in the name of our beloved grandfather, Joseph A. Mercantini Sr.
A special thank you to Grace Archer, president of the Bordentown Little League, Bordentown Little League’s board of directors, Robert Erickson and Assemblyman Joseph Malone.
Joann Mercantini-Mahon
and family
Bordentown
Resident responds
to CFR editorial
To the editor:
In response to your editorial on campaign finance reform (CFR), I would like to point out that there isn’t a majority supporting the CFR ideas being voted upon by Congress.
In fact, there is at least a third of the country strongly opposed to those ideas (and probably another third who haven’t even thought about it).
If that is the case, then it looks to me like the interest in CFR is a just another "special interest."
It’s likely that the real reason some people like the idea of CFR is because they don’t like the way some representatives vote.
Some people just can’t believe that their "good" idea that would improve the lives of all humanity could possibly be opposed for any good reason. They conclude simplistically that it must be corruption caused by too much campaign donations.
Studies have shown that the best predictor of a representative’s vote on an issue is his ideology and that the rep receives donations because of the way he or she votes and not that the rep votes based on receipt of donations.
I believe the more legitimate goal of CFR is to increase the accountability of our representatives, and at the same time, reduce the possibility of corruption.
With that in mind, here are some good ideas that would do that without harming or limiting our right to support the candidates of our choice:
1. Secret donations. If we could make it so that the donor can give a contribution to whomever he or she chooses, but the candidate has no ability to know or find out if and how much a donor gave, the candidate couldn’t be sure who his or her richest supporters were.
Without the ability to verify claims about donations, the candidate would be less inclined to give out corrupt favors to unverified donors, especially if other false donors claimed they gave as well.
Just like secret voting has reduced the effectiveness of vote buying, secret giving would reduce the influence of large contributions.
2. Increase the number of congressional representatives. The number (435) has remained the same since early 1900s so that the ratio of constituents to representative is now around 650,000 to 1.
When the country was founded, it was 30,000 to 1, and when the number was fixed, it was about 130,000 to 1.
The greater the ratio, the less likely the rep will care what any of his or her constituents think. Therefore, the smaller the ratio, the more accountable the rep will be.
3. Trim the role of the federal government back to its Constitutional limits. Despite the Constitution’s clear language, the federal government has gotten its bureaucratic hands into almost every facet of everyday life and hands out money for projects concerning nearly everything imaginable.
Is it any wonder that people line up for the handouts? Is it any wonder that people lobby the government when their lives are affected?
4. Scrap the income tax. There is no code of law that is more manipulated for special favors than the tax code. Take away the income tax and our federal officials will have less power to create loopholes for specific industries. This also aids in accomplishing #3.
James Briggs
Bordentown Township