WASHINGTON — Tom Osborne briefly took off the Husker cap Friday morning to dive back into the world of politics.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln athletic director joined a group of current and former House members in criticizing the congressional campaign financing system. In its place, they suggested an approach that would mix small private contributions with public financing.
Osborne represented Nebraska’s sprawling 3rd Congressional District for three terms, starting in 2000. In 2006, he made an unsuccessful bid for the GOP nomination for governor.
Osborne said that within weeks of being elected to Congress, his colleagues on Capitol Hill were earnestly raising money for the next campaign.
“This consumes a large amount of their time that could be better spent in the legislative process and serving constituents,” Osborne said during a Friday conference call with reporters.
He stressed that he was speaking only for himself and not the university.
The call was intended to highlight the proposed Fair Elections Now Act, which has gotten renewed attention in the wake of a Supreme Court decision striking down restrictions on corporations using profits to pay for political ads.
The proposal would establish a public funding mechanism for federal candidates who agree to abide by certain restrictions, such as a $100 limit on contributions.
The money would come from a fee on government contractors and from auctioning off unused broadcast spectrum.
“I do know what the general mood of the country is, and that is a feeling that there is too much influence of special interests and money in Washington, and I think an act like this would help put some of that to bed,” Osborne said.
He noted a bill he supported that aimed to prohibit pharmaceutical drug companies from charging more for the same medicine in the United States than they did in Canada or Europe.
“Because of the amount of money that the pharmaceutical companies had poured into campaigns, we barely got it out of the House but couldn’t get it out of the Senate,” Osborne said. “It was something that I thought made great sense and would have been good for the American public, but special interests certainly carried the day.”
But Osborne’s successor — and fellow Republican — Rep. Adrian Smith said that while the current system has problems, he’s against a public financing approach.
“Using tax dollars for campaigns, I think, Americans find offensive,” Smith said.
Smith said the emphasis should be on timely disclosure of campaign contributions.
“Really, what’s gotten out of hand are these regulations that have led to loopholes and the need to raise even more money just to comply with the regulations,” Smith said.
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