No matter what the Democrats and Republicans do to try to clean up the image of the two parties and the election process, it will not change the fact that a handful of immensely wealthy capitalist families control the means of production, the political parties, and the government, and thus the lives of working people around the world. The wealthy rulers will find a way to keep hundreds of millions of dollars flowing to their parties and their monopoly on political power with or without the so-called reform.

These laws target constitutional protections for freedom of expression and the right to privacy. Working-class parties such as the Socialist Workers Party have waged a fight over several decades against federal, state, and local laws that, under the guise of "fair elections," require disclosure of the names of contributors and those who the campaigns pay for services. This effort has forced the courts to recognize the intrusive character of these laws. But onerous record-keeping and other restrictions remain.

One aspect of the offensive around the McCain-Feingold bill is capitalist politicians putting an equal sign between wealthy individuals and the trade unions. Both are called "special interest groups" in order to blur the distinction between the handful of superwealthy families that exploit working people and the vast majority who are not represented by either big-business party.

Today, officials of the trade unions give away labor's power by handing over tens of millions of dollars and the time and labor of thousands of union members to support either the Democrats or Republicans who represent the very bosses who are attacking working people. But the campaign finance "reforms" put obstacles in the way of the future funding of a labor party independent of the bosses, and of candidates who challenge capitalist rule.

Another assault on democratic rights is the proposed ban on broadcast advertising referring to candidates within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election.

The only way forward for working people is to build a strong union movement, to forge an alliance between workers and small farmers, to break away from reliance on the "friends of labor" in the big-business parties, and to chart a course of revolutionary action in the interests of the majority. This is the road that will make it possible for those who labor, the vast majority of the population, to take power away from the capitalists and establish a workers and farmers government that can begin the construction of a system where human needs are the only "special interest."
 
 
Related article:
Campaign finance 'reform' bill attacks rights  
 
 
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