Campaign financing

[Guest]

I mentioned earlier that AFTER the election there will be lots and lots of stuff uncovered on financing.....a few of the "hints" are as follows...

"Without question, Obama has set the bar at new height with a truly staggering sum of cash. And that is why as we approach this November, it is worth reminding ourselves what Barack Obama said last November.

One year ago, he made a promise. He pledged to accept public financing and to work with the Republican nominee to ensure that they both operated within those limits.

Then it became clear to Sen. Obama and his campaign that he was going to be able to raise on his own far more cash than he would get with public financing. So Obama went back on his word."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/28/campbell.brown.obama/index.html


And also...

"Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor's identity, campaign officials confirmed."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/28/AR2008102803413_pf.html

Just a lot of smoke so far but it has been present for some time !!

[Guest]

little article.
not to much up on this issue, but what can you do. i agree need to control spending. but at same time kerry tried and got bamboosled doing the public funding deal..


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2008/1029/1225197273865.html

[Guest]

...NO campaign financing contributions should be permitted to go into the hands of any candidate for federal office. The federal government should finance (and control the duration) of political campaigns.

That sort of law would largely, but not completely, neuter the influence of lobbyists and special interests. There is probably no way to eliminate them completely. As an example, the special interests could fund advertising campaigns of any size or content supporting one candidate or another. That is permitted under the first amendment to the Constitution.

If the candidates themselves were placed on a level playing field financially and in the length of time they can actually campaign, the American electorate would be far better informed. We could then listen to the candidates and ignore the advertisements, knowing that they were bought and paid for by special interests or lobbyists.

At least that might be a start.