by Brooks Jackson

About the author: Brooks Jackson is a correspondent for the Cable News Network (CNN) and is a former investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

True [campaign finance] reform will require a program endorsed by the best and most influential people in both parties, one potent enough to return power to voters and to cure the paralyzing money fever that grips Congress. To arouse the interest of a skeptical public, it needs to be as progressive and bold as the tax-reform bill of 1986. To work, it will require much stronger enforcement than the Federal Election Commission [FEC, an independent agency that administers and enforces campaign finance laws] has provided....

A rejuvenated Federal Election Commission would begin strict enforcement of fewer and simpler regulations, including total disclosure of all hidden sources of party...