A Rich Man’s Job
May 18th, 2008
We know that the two-party system is sucks-ville; but how can we fix it? Well, one the best ways to start is with how campaigns are financed. Campaign finance is a powder keg topic. Limiting it is akin to limiting free speech and too much support is seen as political welfare by others.
On the whole, being a politician is a rich man’s job. It takes an enormous amount of capital to even begin to think about running for office, and even more tons of money to actually capture the office. According to the Federal Election Commission, Barack Obama has raised over $240 million for his presidential bid. Hillary Clinton has raised over $194 million; John McCain has raised $80 million. In contrast, Bob Barr the recently announced Libertarian candidate for President has only raised $102 thousand. Ralph Nader, the perpetual Green Party candidate has raised $605 thousand.
Unlimited campaign financing by individuals ultimately will lead to corruption, greased palms and that ilk. Donors naturally are going to want something for their money and the candidate is going to feel pressured to give in. There is already a policy to provide public funds for the general election. Candidates have to choose to accept this money, and pledge to not use more than the allotted funds in the election. For 2008, the amount is a lump sum of $85 million, or just under double what a major party candidate can raise in a month from private donations. The real kicker is that for a party to receive public funds that party has to receive more that 5% of the popular vote in preceding election. So, for the first election, the party is on its own. No wonder we only have two parties, the minority parties are literally being drowned by the major parties funds.
So how do we fix this egregious assault on democracy? My favorite idea is the Ackerman-Ayres plan. The premise of the plan is that instead of the government doling out the money to candidates in one large lump sum, the voters get to choose how the money is doled out. Voters would be allocated $10 for House candidates, $15 for Senators and $25 for the President. How the voters would allocate the funds was not established, but could easily be done online, which would allow the funds to be allocated up until Election Day. If you want to allocate your $25 to a minority party candidate, you and everyone else can. More importantly, the allocations will be anonymous. Couple the Ackerman-Ayres plan with strict campaign finance rules, such as preventing any other money to be spent on the campaign, and it could effectively remove most of the corruption and policy buying in elections, as well as allow minority parties to play with the majors on an even playing field.
Of course most everything with the plan is negotiable. If $50 is too much of a burden that can’t be covered by existing taxes, lower it. If it’s better for the funds to be allocated on tax forms, to prevent having to establish a new federal commission to over see it, do it. The benefit of allowing every voter to support with public funds the candidate that truly represents them is a major step in getting rid of the two-party system and having a truely representative democracy.
