Candidates should pay a penalty for false promises

By Larry Persily

A lot of time, energy and legal fees have been spent on political and court fights to limit donations to political campaigns.

Supporters of campaign contribution laws say unlimited donations buy favorable treatment for people and business that write the big checks — effectively buying elections to protect and promote their own interests.

Opponents of campaign finance limits say it’s a matter of free speech, and it just so happens that rich people and companies can afford to buy more free speech. In their view, the not-so-rich need to make more money and then they too can enjoy the same amount of free speech as the wealthy.

I suspect the current U.S. Supreme Court is not inclined to side with campaign donation limits, so it’s time to find another way to keep political campaigns fair and honest — yes, an almost impossible task.

With no limits on spending, candidates can afford to loudly and constantly promote the most outlandish claims, the most attractive promises to win the most votes. Call them lies, falsehoods, deceitful vows, dishonest guarantees, it’s all the same. Promise voters anything to win, then don’t worry about delivering.

My proposal is to treat campaign promises the same as a new car or washing machine warranty; the same as a money-back-guarantee on a store purchase.

If a car breaks down, the manufacturer needs to reimburse the owner’s costs. 

If a sign at the store says “money back if not completely satisfied,” the business needs to make good on the promise and hand over the money.

It should be the same for candidates. Of course, voters can always show their buyers’ remorse in the next election and kick the over-promisers and outright liars out of office, but that’s a yearslong wait — without any economic penalty for the public official who stretched the truth to win the first time.

Think of all the candidate claims during recent campaigns that never came true.

Donald Trump in his first campaign for president promised that Mexico would pay to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Never happened. He promised in his second successful campaign to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours after winning election. Never happened. He also promised to cut energy prices in half. Go look at the gas pump and make your own decision.

Mike Dunleavy pledged in his winning campaigns for Alaska governor to restore the fattest Alaska Permanent Fund dividend anyone had ever seen. Not only did it never happen, he never even put forth a viable plan to make it happen.

Zohran Mamdani, who won election as mayor of New York City this month, promised a rent freeze for 2 million tenants, free and fast public transit buses, government-run grocery stores and a $30 minimum wage. Whether he believes the promises are good policy doesn’t matter if they never come true.

I propose a system of fines for unfulfilled campaign promises. It would not limit free speech but would penalize dishonest speech. The fines could be based on a percentage of the economic value of the lies, with a small fine for the first offense, going higher with each subsequent lie. Kind of like Pinocchio’s nose, but measured in dollars.

I don’t want to be unreasonable. Candidates and public officials should be allowed to raise unlimited funds from donors to pay the fines. It’s simply adding to the cost of their free speech when it’s dishonest speech.

• Larry Persily is the publisher of the Wrangell Sentinel, which first published this column.