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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 2004)
★ AMERICA VOTES 2004 ★ Bush stands by Patriot Act, Kerry less vocal Bank account information, bookstore records and wire-tapping among civil liberties questioned BY GABE BRADLEY NEWS FREELANCE EDITOR The effort to find an effective bal ance between homeland security and civil rights has proved a complicated and important issue in this election I GIVE I ME 5! Run your "for sale” ad (items under $1,000) for 5 days in the ODE Classified Section. If the item(s) doesn't sell, call us at 346-4343 and we'll run it again for another 5 days free! season. The controversial USA Patriot Act passed in the immediate after math of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 is a particularly complicated as pect of this debate. Premier Travel 1011 Harlow 1747-0909 (Student Travel Experts This 342-page law greatly expands the authority of law enforcement agencies to investigate terrorist activ ities. Critics say the law allows law enforcement officers to engage in such “sneak and peak” activities as wiretapping and investigating library records of innocent citizens without judicial oversight. Proponents of the Patriot Act say that it merely gives law enforcement officers the same resources to inves tigate terrorism that they’ve been us ing to investigate drugs cases and or ganized crime for years. Candidates’ varying positions on the Patriot Act have been one of the points of debate in the campaigns this year. Presidential race The Patriot Act is currently set to ex pire at the end of 2005. In the first presi dential debate, President George W. Bush said it’s “vital that the Congress re new the Patriot Act which enables our law enforcement to disrupt terror cells. ” Sen. John Kerry has been less vo cal about the issue. Although he orig inally voted for the law in 2001, he has supported efforts to revise and limit certain provisions of the Patriot Act. He has also said that his biggest problem with the Patriot Act is not necessarily the law itself, but the way it has been used by Attorney General John Ashcroft, though he cited no specific examples. Senate race Democratic incumbent Ron Wyden originally supported the Patriot Act. Since then, however, he has cospon sored a bill attempting to rollback some of its provisions and make oth ers more strict. “Right now, the executive branch has greater powers to pursue poten tial enemies to the U.S. than at any time since World War II — powers granted in the days immediately fol lowing a terrible attack on this coun try’s soil,” said Wyden in a news re lease. “With almost two years’ perspective on the Sept. 11 tragedy, I believe that Congress has an oppor tunity and a duty to strike a more proper balance between security and civil liberties.” Challenger Al King, a Republican, says he supports the Patriot Act as an important tool in protecting Ameri cans from terrorism, though he ad mits it may need revision to protect civil liberties. “The Patriot Act should be contin ued if revised so that all rights afford ed by the Constitution remain intact LIBERTIES, page 7 A rpoppiV _ylm4oli^ Monday through Saturday Dinner 7 Nights a Week 992 Willamette Eugene, Or 97401 343-9661 J Collage Dance Concert introducing Kim Vetter new dance faculty Friday & Saturday ~~ October 22 & 23 ^ J $10.00 adults $8.00 students/seniors 463-5202 • Bonnie Simoa w/Jeff Defty, cello * Dance Theatre of Oregon • ZAPP Dancers ♦ Lane & UO Dancers ♦ Tim & Corrie Cowart • Walter Kennedy 8:00 pm Main Campus Performance Hall Finance: Campaign funds cause controversy Continued from page 1A group remains unaffiliated with a po litical party, it is free to spend any amount of money it chooses, some thing Ballo said is necessary because of recent reforms that have limited what parties can do with money. “We’re doing things that the party structure has not been able to do since campaign finance reform went into place,” Ballo said. He added that everything the or ganization and very important to the campaigns. ACT is active in 17 swing states and is responsible for register ing more than 100,000 new voters in Oregon, he said. “We’re taking the rules and using the system as it’s set up to do impor tant work,” he said. University Political Science Assis tant Professor Eric McGhee agreed that 527 groups “play critical roles” in campaigns, adding that many of the groups have existed for years but were not needed by political parties until the 2002 reform. Now, with a limit on the amount of money parties can spend, the unlim ited fundraising abilities of the 527s can play a huge role in campaigns. Any future reforms are likely to face the same glitches the McCain Feingold legislation did, McGhee said. He added that money plays such an important role in the out come of elections that it will always find a way to funnel its way to the in tended destination, no matter how strict the reform. The only type of reform that would work would involve a total overhaul of the current system and the imple mentation of one based entirely on public finance, as well as severe re strictions on fundraising, McGhee said. University of Florida Political Science Professor Richard Scher said most attempts at campaign finance reform have been “misguided” and subsequently fail to address the real problems in the system. “Reforms are sideshows,” Scher said. “They’re not really speaking to where they’re most valuable — money. ” Scher is critical of the roles 527 groups have played in this election, blaming them for increasing the “electoral division” in the country, but he added that it was within their right to do so. “They’ve just been doing what is permissible; whether it’s ethical or not is another matter,” Scher said. In order to halt the influence of outside interest groups, Scher said all organizations should be required to offer “a complete and instant disclo sure” of all funds raised and where they’re going. If full disclosure is demanded, 527 groups will be more reluctant to spend money out of fear of public scrutiny for having a political agenda. “All the roaches will run for the corners,” he said. Scher said political organizations should be subjected to huge tax ex penditures. One hundred percent tax expenditures and full-disclosure de mands are the only way to ensure that the “unwarranted power and vast amount of resources” of 527 groups is limited, Scher said. “Tax the daylights out of them,” he said. McGhee said full disclosure and large tax expenditures may seem like good solutions, but the best solution to the current campaign system in volves switching to a publicly fi nanced one. McGhee’s idea of a public finance based system was suggested by De mocratic congressional candidate Peter DeFazio as the best way to re form a corrupt system. Because of the 1976 ruling that money is a form of speech, “the only way we can sub stantially limit expenditures is through public financing.” DeFazio said the majority of his campaign money comes from indi vidual contributors, something McGhee said is not uncommon. “As much as we talk about corpo rations influencing the system and so forth, it’s really the individual,” McGhee said. According ’to recent election re ports, DeFazio has received $74,354 in individual contributions of $200 or more, $247,826 from Political Action Committees and $4,500 from Indian tribes. Comparatively, DeFazio’s op ponent, Republican Jim Feldkamp, has received $182,136 in individual contributions of $200 or more, $41,250 from PACs and $34,780 in self-funded contributions. The most glaring difference in the amount of campaign funds in Oregon is between senatorial candidates De mocrat Ron Wyden and Republican Al King. Wyden currently has $3,340,168 compared to King’s $11,157, according to recent election reports. Many candidates will not deny the need for further campaign reform, Scher said, but most do not under stand how deeply rooted campaign finance problems are. Interest groups like the 527s exist because the law allows them to, and they contribute to the political scene because the high court’s 1976 ruling said they could, Scher said. Though 527s may not be wanted, Scher said, “I don’t see any way from a constitutional standpoint to get rid of them.” meghanncuniff@ daily emerald, com 014617 Do you need to take GRE • GMAT • TOEFL* PPST/P The University of Oregon Testing Office is an official ETS computer-based testing site. Testing is available year-round, Monday-Friday, 2 sessions a day. Appointments can be scheduled by calling 541.346.2772 or by visiting the Testing Office. The Testing Office is located on the 2nd floor (Rm. 238) of the University Health and Counseling Center, 1590 E. 13th Ave., Eugene OR. The period of greatest demand is usually Sept, through March, so it makes sense to plan ahead. For more information visit the Testing Office web site at http://www.uoregon.edu/~testing/ Tango Milonga Every Friday & Saturday am Ages Night No partner Live music. necessary Tango DJ’s, $5 performances Introduction to Tango class at 8pm Tango social dance from 9pm-lam ♦October 22 -■ Evan Griffiths' Combo ♦October 23 Mood Area 52 The Tango Center 194 West Broadway downtown Eugene A non-profit community center dedicated to the music & dance of Argentine Tango www.tangocenter.org Need Cash? extra money for back-to-school expenses? 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