3 ms·

I don't understand your point--wouldn't public financing of elections remove the need to hold fundraisers? The problem as I see it is that representatives are

by rgarcia 15y ago

I don't understand your point--wouldn't public financing of elections remove the need to hold fundraisers? The problem as I see it is that representatives are forced (due to the exorbitant cost of campaigning) to win over wealthy interests. This manifests itself as what we've seen with the whole SOPA debacle: representatives who are completely out of touch with their constituents.

scott_s 15y ago
Public financing is one way, yes. My point is that the site itself, and many people here, present a caricature of the problem. If you talk too much abou the caricature, someone may say "Oh, yes, I see, so let's do a better job of investigating and prosecuting people who buy and sell votes." The real problem is more sublte, and it is inherent in how the system works.
nimblegorilla 15y ago
How would public financing solve anything? If we gave each candidate a billion dollars it seems like there would still be an incentive to raise even more money from rich corporations.
- rgarcia 15y ago
  By definition public financing precludes corporate financing.
  - nimblegorilla 15y ago
    Thanks for an incorrect non-answer. The definition of public financing does not by itself preclude corporate financing. Even if you adopted additional restrictions on corporate financing I'm pretty sure there would be all kinds of ways to shadow-fund a candidate. This creates a situation where honest candidates are unfairly penalized against candidates that still play the money game.
    - rgarcia 15y ago
      I guess I meant the de facto definition. Literally every attempt at a public financing bill/amendment I've seen in Congress has the express purpose of precluding direct corporate financing[1]. Also, I was not arguing whether or not any of these proposals can be 100% effective (like you clearly deny). This is a straw man, but it is definitely worth debate on a case-by-case basis. [1] most recent (and probably most ambitious) example: https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hjres100/report https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hjres100/report. An intriguing proposal from L. Lessig: http://www.plainsite.org/issues/index.html?id=29 http://www.plainsite.org/issues/index.html?id=29

by rgarcia 15y ago

scott_s 15y ago

Public financing is one way, yes. My point is that the site itself, and many people here, present a caricature of the problem. If you talk too much abou the caricature, someone may say "Oh, yes, I see, so let's do a better job of investigating and prosecuting people who buy and sell votes." The real problem is more sublte, and it is inherent in how the system works.

nimblegorilla 15y ago

How would public financing solve anything? If we gave each candidate a billion dollars it seems like there would still be an incentive to raise even more money from rich corporations.

rgarcia 15y ago
By definition public financing precludes corporate financing.
- nimblegorilla 15y ago
  Thanks for an incorrect non-answer. The definition of public financing does not by itself preclude corporate financing. Even if you adopted additional restrictions on corporate financing I'm pretty sure there would be all kinds of ways to shadow-fund a candidate. This creates a situation where honest candidates are unfairly penalized against candidates that still play the money game.
  - rgarcia 15y ago
    I guess I meant the de facto definition. Literally every attempt at a public financing bill/amendment I've seen in Congress has the express purpose of precluding direct corporate financing[1]. Also, I was not arguing whether or not any of these proposals can be 100% effective (like you clearly deny). This is a straw man, but it is definitely worth debate on a case-by-case basis. [1] most recent (and probably most ambitious) example: https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hjres100/report https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hjres100/report. An intriguing proposal from L. Lessig: http://www.plainsite.org/issues/index.html?id=29 http://www.plainsite.org/issues/index.html?id=29