Nodler: Campaign finance bill was not perfect

Using his gift for understatement Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, told those attending an Eggs and Issues breakfast at Airport Drive Friday that the recently passed campaign finance bill was not perfect.
The Joplin Daily quotes Nodler as saying:
"Campaign finance and ethics reform, again, not a perfect bill, but one that certainly increases transparency so citizens will be able to follow the dollars more easily and know where campaign finances come from. It tightens up on the relationship between lobbyists and legislature, which is probably long overdue."

All it does is make it easier for the special interests to get their money where they want it to go in the first place. And it has no effect whatsoever on the relationship between lobbyists and legislators.
To restore voter confidence, these are the steps that should be taken:
-Forget about lobbyists' disclosure. Ban gifts entirely. I am tired of the whining from supporters of the status quo claiming that this violates the First Amendment which specifically enables people to petition their legislators. The First Amendment says nothing about paying for travel, booze, and gifts. Lobbyists will still hold the advantage since most of them have Jefferson City offices and easy access to our representatives and senators. They have the right to petition the legislators, not the right to buy them.
-Restore the campaign contribution limits that Missourians overwhelmingly approved 12 years ago. Even though the system still overwhelmingly leans toward incumbents of both parties, if the money the parties shell out is removed from the equation, the system is much more fair. That can be done without removing contributions. If a candidate deserves to win, this can be done without huge amounts of cash coming in from out-of-district (and sometimes out-of-state) special interests). If a candidate cannot raise money in his or her own district, that candidate deserves to go down to defeat.
It's not going to happen, but Governor Blunt should veto this bill. Compromise is an effective tool in politics, but this is not compromise; this bill does absolutely nothing to loosen the stranglehold special interests have on Missouri politics.