Mike Thompson: “Well, that certainly seems more reasonable. Another says, ``Big Money Talks.'' Another says, ``Taste of Money Corrupts…”

“Well, that certainly seems more reasonable. Another says, ``Big Money Talks.'' Another says, ``Taste of Money Corrupts Politics.'' This is from Texas. Another says, ``The Great `Unsecret' of Politics.'' That is the relationship between contributions and votes. Another says, ``Legal Bribery Still Controls Congress.'' I do not believe that, but a lot of people believe that, and we have to ask ourselves why. Another says, ``Campaigns up for Sale.'' Mr. President, how much more of this can we stand as an institution? How can we go before the American people with the tough choices that we are going to have to be leading on, convincing the people, with no credibility? Ten percent of the people in this country have a great deal of confidence in Congress. Twelve percent have a great deal of confidence in the executive branch. Eighty percent of the people, at least, favor major change here. We always want to be responsive to the American people, until it comes to something that affects us and our livelihoods--whether it is term limits, campaign finance reform, or some other issue that affects us directly as politicians. Then we come up with all kinds of excuses why it will not work. We have a system where soft money, of course, has completely made a sham of the reforms that were put in place in earlier years. We all know that. It is a bipartisan problem. Soft money now is up 100 percent--a 100-percent increase--with hundreds of thousands in contributions, in many cases that we see.…”