News Leader editorial blasts Shields bill to remove campaign contribution limits

An editorial in today's Springfield News-Leader blasts Sen. Charlie Shields' bill which would remove campaign contribution limits:

First, it smacks Missouri voters in the face and makes it clear they no longer matter to state leaders.

Second, it puts a sign on the Capitol that says, simply: "Open for business, deposit cash here."

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Charlie Shields, once again tosses out the campaign finance limits previously approved by voters and sustained by the state Supreme Court and returns us to the early days of the 2007 rules when elected officials can take any amount they want from donors. You want out-of-state megabucks deciding who the next governor of Missouri is? You got it.

What makes the bill so offensive is the continued argument by Shields and others that this is a bill about transparency in government. It most certainly is not.

No, it is not. It never ceases to amaze me how our elected officials will piously pay lip service to giving the people what they want..unless, of course, it is not what they want.

In this case, they are telling the people that the Rex Sinquefields and special interests are far more important than the large majority of their constituents. If that isn't the height of arrogance, I don't know what is.