Neanderpundit

Monday 05 Mar 2012

Real campaign finance reform

13 comments Og | Uncategorized

13 Responses to “Real campaign finance reform”

1. on 05 Mar 2012 at 5:47 pm   Slash
   
   

   Kinda reminds me of a claiming class in auto racing. Your idea would probably be effective and, therefore, not be acceptable.

2. on 05 Mar 2012 at 5:59 pm   jetfxr69
   
   

   I prefer three principles:

   -Anyone can contribute any amount to any campaign in an election for which they are eligible to vote.

   -All advertisements must acknowledge who purchased them.

   -The candidate’s campaign organization is prohibited (on pain of disqualification) from coordinating a message with another non-candidate organization. i.e. blocs of candidates could coordinate a message, but a candidate(or candidates) and other organizations cannot coordinate.

3. on 05 Mar 2012 at 6:04 pm   jetfxr69
   
   

   Oh, disqualification discovered after the election results would be a felony, as a subversion of government. Resulting in automatic removal (and permanent disqualification)from office, succession based on a new “special” election based on the laws of the State defrauded or in the case of the POTUS (who campaigns with V-POTUS), inauguration of the new Speaker and Senate President Pro-Tem.

4. on 05 Mar 2012 at 6:06 pm   jetfxr69
   
   

   Notice that in this case all corporations, profit or non-profit, would be prohibited from even contributing to campaigns. This includes..Party.

5. on 05 Mar 2012 at 6:18 pm   Professor Hale
   
   

   Then everyone would run for president to get their share of free money.

6. on 05 Mar 2012 at 6:28 pm   og
   
   

   “Then everyone would run for president to get their share of free money. ” and then everyone would end up with $1.87. Win-win.

7. on 05 Mar 2012 at 9:07 pm   bygdawg
   
   

   Is the $1.87 before or after taxes?

8. on 05 Mar 2012 at 9:16 pm   Og
   
   

   You have to pay your own taxes.

9. on 06 Mar 2012 at 8:12 am   Professor Hale
   
   

   I see two possibilities for real reform, neither of which is superior to the other but both are superior to what we have.

   1. Let everyone be free to run ads, with or without connection to a political campaign. Let everyone give as much money to whoever they like for whatever reason. Let candidate and campaign corporations raise money and spend it without limit. Repeal laws against bribery of elected officials.

   2. Enforce laws against bribery. Criminally punish anyone who gives an elected official money to run a campaign or any form of in-kind gift. Punish the elected official for accepting the gift.

   I have never understood how a campaign contribution is not a “bribe” in every sense of the word.

10. on 06 Mar 2012 at 10:28 am   Nathan
    
    

    Mere semantics, my dear Professor.

11. on 06 Mar 2012 at 10:45 am   Randy Rager
    
    

    I’ve got a better idea: Anyone can donate any amount of money they want, which I will then spend on expensive hookers and the finest Peruvian marching powder, while we do away with elections in favor of randomly selecting people for mandatory government service.

12. on 06 Mar 2012 at 11:09 am   Og
    
    

    Randy: I like the way you think one hell of a lot.

13. on 07 Mar 2012 at 5:44 pm   Alpheus
    
    

    All this talk is assuming that the money donated to politicians is the biggest corrupting factor in politics today. Although it has a visible effect, it is not.

    The biggest scandal is how politicians will take our money from us at gunpoint, and then use it to bribe us to vote for them!

    That is, they tax us, and then spend that money in special programs that “benefit” us.

    Of course, things are more complicated than that: politicians also borrow money, from us and from other countries, to provide bribes for us as well.

    If we can pass a law that forbids politicians from bribing us with our own money, we’d go a long way to reforming things!

    Or, better yet, we could just wise up to what our politicians are doing to us, and demand that they stop…

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