Campaign Finance Fiasco

Reader Tom Castle points to a great argument for abolishing campaign finance laws: A story in the Dayton Daily News about a sad sack telephone company technician who ran for an Ohio state senate seat in 1996, spending less than $200 on his entire campaign. Now Jeff McNeely is facing a whopping $59,000 fine for having failed to report a $32 expenditure. Read the whole appalling travesty here.

And while we're on the topic of limitations on purely political speech, check out Reason's great interview with maverick Federal Election Commission member Bradley Smith and this piece detailing how campaign finance laws can be used as a club to beat political opponents.