Hightower Lowdown

Would you be willing to spend $5 to have your voice and your vote count in politics again?

This is not a come-on, but a leg mate way for We the People to reclaim our democracy at a cost of no more than five bucks each per election year. It's called the "Clean Money Option," and the people of Mzona, Maine, Massachussets, and Vermont have already voted it into effect for their state elections.

This year, Missouri and Oregon have Clean Money initiatives on their ballots, put there by ordinary citizens who want their candidates to win on the basis of ideas and qualifications, not the size of their campaign contributions.

These initiatives provide public financing of state elections for candidates who agree not to take private funds. In Oregon, Measure 6 provides $25,000 in a primary election for qualifying candidates and $50,000 each for the general election.

Wait a minute, you say—why the hell should we give our tax dollars to politicians? Hello? We already give all our tax dollars to politicians to allocate each year, billions of which then go to favors for their big campaign contributors. We'll save these billions by eliminating those special-interest contributors.

The Clean Money fund also means that a regular person can run for office-a school teacher, carpenter, or shop owner has the same access to funding that the incumbent does.