"If we have publicly funded campaigns then we could prevent candidates from using private money."

That's just not true.  You can limit/prevent direct contributions to campaigns, but you can't limit/prevent the kind of independent spending like the one addressed in this news article. And because of McCain-Feingold, that's where most of the money in politics goes to now. It's an independent entity simply exercising free speech. That can't be limited as long as they're not directly associated with a campaign. 

If you want to spend $5000 to air an ad on Channel 31 that says "I think we need better schools, so I support XXX!", that can't be outlawed or limited. Same with spending $1M for 200 ads.

Labels: moderation: safe