People with an investment in government power will torture logic like a medieval inquisitor rather than face the facts. Consider campaign-finance reform. Corporations and wealthy folks offer to provide the money in return for favors when the candidates take or resume office.
Politicians pay their debts by writing tax loopholes, subsidies, and other goodies into law.
The little guy can t compete in the bidding for favors and, worse, ends up financing the payoffs to the big contributors. The proffered solutions to this problem range from strict limits on contributions all the way to a ban on them, with campaigns financed by the taxpayers. The public hasn t shown much interest in the matter. But it s a favorite of reporters, pundits, and editorial writers, whose influence, coincidentally, would be magnified if campaigning were restricted. The editorial pages of all the major newspapers have solemnly weighed in on this threat to the republic.