In the event a public financing, or no financing, solution agreeable to all can be implemented, I have always suggested the following transitional scheme.
Let any person, association or corporation donate as much as they want, to anyone they want, providing the funds go through an intermediate agency which simply transfers the cash anonymously to the candidate the donor requests. The candidate gets his money, the donor gets his influence, but the candidate will not be beholden to the donor because he can never be really sure the donor actually contributed, or how much. These guys lie routinely, right?
Sure, safeguards will have to be introduced so there is no fraud at the transferring agency, but surely that will be easier to audit than the system we have now. It will also eliminate the obscenity of special interests simultaneously contributing to opposing candidates so they can own whoever gets elected.
A rather exaggerated example: If I'm a candidate who supports, say, legalization of heroin and child pornography, and I get a big contribution, I will know immediately my contributors' views, but I will not know who they are or if the drug or porn lobby or even some third party made the bulk of contribution. I won't owe them anything, except a committment to my stated platform.
Current Events » in reply to Public financing
Show me the money.
The whole thread (37 posts)
- California legislator wants to make incandescent bulbs illegal.
- Fluorescent bulbs are likely unhealthy.
- This whole thread has to qualify for some kind of Moebius award or something....
- But are the energy shortages in CA man-made, or just normal variances?
- In the future, everyone will have a nose stud or two.
- banning trans-fats, and making spanking illegal
- re: banning trans-fats, and making spanking illegal
- spanking illegal
- Don't flourecent light bulbs get treated as hazordous waste? (n/t)
- (Picturing TB typing away furiously) (n/t)