2016年经济学人 政界金权 任君捐

 

Money in politics

政界金权

Sky's the limit

任君捐

The justices open the door to more campaign contributions

法院为竞选赞助敞开大门

SHAUN McCUTCHEON, a businessman from Alabama, wanted to give a symbolic¹ $1,776 to 28 Republican candidates for Congress in 2012. Because of federal limits imposed after the Watergate scandal, Mr McCutcheon was allowed to donate this sum only to 16 campaigns. On April 2nd, however, the Supreme² Court ruled that he can get his chequebook out again. In McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, the justices voted 5-4 to strike down two “aggregate caps” on campaign contributions, leaving “base limits” of $2,600 per candidate, per election intact. Where individuals had been limited to total contributions of $48,600 to candidates for federal office and $74,600 to political parties and political-action committees, they can now give as much as they like.

2012年，亚拉巴马州的商人肖恩·麦克卡森曾想为竞选国会议员的28位共和党人象征性捐赠1776美金。但由于水门事件后强制实行联邦限度，麦克卡森只得用这笔款项资助了16场竞选。然而，根据最高法院4月2日的裁决，他又可以拿出支票簿来了。在麦克卡森起诉联邦选举委员会一案中，众法官以5:4的投票比例，最终取消了竞选献金的两处“总限额”，只对每名候选人一次全程竞选作2600美金的“基本上限”要求。相比过去，联邦政府部门的候选人所能接受个人捐款上限为48600美金，政党和政治行动委员会的上限则为74600美金；如今个人捐款已不再受限了。

“There is no right more basic in our democracy,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the court's plurality opinion, “than the right to participate in electing our political leaders.” The First Amendment's freedom-of-speech guarantee includes the right to “contribute to a candidate's campaign.” So although “money in politics may at times seem repugnant to some,” it is entitled to “vigorous” protection. It is unconstitutional, Mr Roberts wrote, to “restrict the political participation⁴ of some in order to enhance the relative influence of others.”

“我国民主政治中最基本的一项权利，”首席法官约翰·罗伯茨在法庭多数意见书中写道，“就是参与政治领导人选举。”第一修正案中的言论自由权规定了“为候选人竞选捐款。因此，尽管“政界金权有时会引起某些人的反感，”但这一权利有着“有力”保障。罗伯茨还写道，“为了提升某些人的相对影响力而限制其他人的政治参与”不合宪法规定。

The only good reason to curb⁵ campaign donations, the Court ruled, is to prevent corruption⁷. So caps on donations to individual candidates make sense: a “financial quid pro³ quo”, or appearance thereof, taints⁸ a $1m cheque to someone running for Congress. But if it is lawful⁹ to give $1,776 to one candidate, or 16, it is odd to argue that the same sum would corrupt⁶ the 17th recipient¹⁰, or the 400th. “The Government may no more restrict how many candidates or causes a donor¹¹ may support,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “than it may tell a newspaper how many candidates it may endorse¹².”

根据法庭判决，预防腐败是唯一条限制竞选捐款的充分理由。这样一来，制定候选人的个人受捐总限额就合乎情理了：若是让国会议员候选人另外寻求一样补偿，或是让其支付公开露面的费用，他们便会脏了好好一张百万支票。但若是法律允许候选人个人接收1776美金，或允许16位候选人接收1776美金，第17个人或是第400个人就不会脏了这笔钱。“政府不可对捐赠方资助的候选人人数或事业项数作限制，”首席法官罗伯茨写道，“也不可在新闻中透露捐赠方所支持的候选人人数。”

In dissent¹³, Justice Stephen Breyer and three other liberal justices argued that the ruling undervalues the “integrity of our governmental institutions”. Together with the Citizens Uniteddecision of 2010, Mr Breyer charged, McCutcheon “eviscerates our Nation's campaign-finance laws, leaving a remnant incapable¹⁴ of dealing¹⁵ with the grave problems of democratic legitimacy¹⁶ that those laws were intended to resolve.” The majority fails to understand what donor dollars can buy, fumed¹⁷ Mr Breyer. “The threat...posed by the risk of special access and influence,” he wrote, “remains real.”

斯蒂芬·布雷耶同其他自由派法官对此表示饭随，他们声称这一裁决低估了“美国政府机构的廉正”。布雷耶以2010年出台的《公民联合决议》为据，起诉麦克卡森“一棍子打倒了美国竞选筹款法，该法旨在解决的民主合法性之严峻问题自此滞而无解。”布雷耶怒斥多数派没能理解捐赠方的手中的金权。“这一威胁…由特殊渠道和特殊影响造成，”他如是写道，“它一直存在着”。

1 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

4 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

5 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

6 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

7 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

8 taints   

n.变质( taint的名词复数 )；污染；玷污；丑陋或腐败的迹象v.使变质( taint的第三人称单数 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• Meat taints readily in hot weather. 天气炎热，肉容易变味。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This disease of money and greed taints other people. 别人会为了贪财争赃而丧心病狂。 来自辞典例句

9 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

10 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

11 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

12 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

13 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

14 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

16 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

17 fumed   

愤怒( fume的过去式和过去分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟

参考例句：

• He fumed with rage because she did not appear. 因为她没出现，所以他大发雷霆。
• He fumed and fretted and did not know what was the matter. 他烦躁，气恼，不知是怎么回事。