You Really Wanna Reform Politics? First thing we do is kill all the laws that limit campaign contributions
By Jon Birger

(MONEY Magazine) – My favorite political website--hands down--is, a financial database run by the Center for Responsive Politics. With a few keystrokes, visitors can find out anything, from which House member gets the most money from pharmaceutical companies (Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-N.J.) to which candidate Warren Buffett supported, at least financially, for President (Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla.).

Maybe it's the journalist in me, or just my libertarian streak, but it seems that putting such information at the fingertips of voters is a far more effective way to clean up politics than passing laws that cap how much money people give to parties or politicians. Look at what's happened in the year since the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance bill became law. Barred from making six- and seven-figure donations to political parties, unions and corporate fat cats are now sending their cash to private groups unencumbered by McCain-Feingold. These are the folks who run those oh-so-helpful issue ads imploring voters to "call" Congressman Jones and "ask him why" he raised your taxes or denied your sick grandmother drug benefits. The liberal group just got a whopping $5 million from George Soros and his pals.

I don't see the difference between Soros giving millions to and his donating directly to the Democratic Party. Besides, in a free society, people should be able to spend what they want to push whichever causes and candidates they support. What we need aren't more restrictions on giving but more disclosure on what that money is buying. An ex-Capitol Hill staffer exaggerates only slightly when she tells me that "98% of constituent meetings are with people who contribute money." Maybe I'm naive, but I have to think that laying bare the connection between money and influence would shame politicians into being better public servants.

So here's my idea: Require pols to log all lobbyists and contributors with whom they or their staffers meet and make that information available online. There would be loopholes for national security, and congressmen couldn't be expected to remember everyone who buttonholed them at the local Safeway. Nevertheless, when it comes to disinfecting Washington, partial sunlight would be better than no sunlight at all. --JON BIRGER