Free Money

Campaign finance "loopholes" are the best part of the system.

James V. DeLong from the August/September 2000 issue

(Page 5 of 5)

A real program of campaign finance reform would start from the premise that the First Amendment is not, as the reformers seem to believe, a loophole. The First Amendment, as applied to electoral campaigns, is an indispensable element of representative government. The only real reform needed is to expand the loopholes, not end them. Contribution limits should be removed, even for corporations and unions, and the only requirement should be full and immediate disclosure over the Internet.

There can be First Amendment objections to disclosure, since anonymity is sometimes important. But contribution sources are important pieces of information for voters to get, disclosure is necessary for public acceptance of radical change, and it is a reasonable price to get rid of the present system. Beyond the disclosure requirement, let it rip. The more money spent, the better. The more voices, the better. The more that citizens feel they can participate and be heard, the better. The less governments try to control advocacy, the better.

It won't be pretty. There will be lots of abuses, problems, and outrages. But, as Winston Churchill said of democracy itself, this approach to campaign finance has one irrefutable argument in its favor: All the other systems are worse.