U.S. Debt Could Be Cut by Sending Leftover Campaign Cash to Uncle Sam

Surely this is satire? Otherwise I cannot explain how Mr. Schmul imagines a few hundred millions would have the faintest impact on the deficit. He’s off by three decimal places. It’s like proposing we use the change jar at the cash register to finance the local school. And of course, even if his proposal were adopted, all it would do is guarantee that candidates spend all their money. Good grief.

As long as the pacs do the same, but public financing is the way to control spending if the writer is serious. There is a difference in the way the 2 parties raise money, GOP raises more money through large corporate donors, which supply a steady uninterrupted stream of cash through the pacs. Dems rely more on small donors who are limited by economic conditions.

The only way to curb the debt is to decrease spending. Anything that fosters the delusion that we can cut the debt any other way is a bad idea. The money that people give to candidates is given to advance the ideas that those people believe, not to cover government spending on other things.

Campaigning is expensive for several reasons. The first is that the government has more and more power and controls more and more aspects of life. More government control means that controlling government is a way to control money. Money will always follow other money. If we want to stop the cycle, we need for the government to control less and spend less. Another reason is that the political coverage tends to be shallow. A candidate's only chance to give the voters anything close to an unfiltered report of his positions is to spend money spreading the message himself. That effort is expensive. Another reason is that people tend not to do the research themselves. They allow shallow coverage, catchy ads, and water cooler conversations based in ignorance to determine how they will vote. If people made the effort to do their own research and choose candidates based on what they really believe, money would not be as important. Even candidates with less money would have a better chance against those who can craft their message with more polish.

We don't need campaign finance reform. We need voters to reform their lazy ways and to stop rewarding campaigning to the lowest common denominator.

First things first, money donated to a particular candidate is not for the federal government to take. The people that donated this money have already paid taxes on their earnings and can therefore do whatever they so choose to do with it, it should by no means go to paying down the debt of an irresponsible federal government. If politicians want to reduce debt maybe they should stop supporting and funding absurd causes when bills are passed. The average citizen should not be held financially responsible for some ridiculous earmark that a congress member from a district other than theirs pushes through on the floor. Doesn’t the federal government get enough of our hard earned money as it is?

You want to help reduce the deficit then require all senators and house rep. to have Only One office in Washington and One Office in their state. This would cut operating expenses by Billions. Texas senator alone has 9 offices.
But they never look at themselves. The only information on their staff salaries is from 2000 and their staffs were making 40,000 - 116,000 even the clerk sorting mail.

And don't say move if you don't like it. That is lame. Everyone knows that people become politicians to become rich or richer. And how do they do that? Illegally that's how. The rich get richer by becoming politicians or by buying politicians.

I have a very simple idea for saving money AND making politicians accountable to their constituents: dissolve Washington, DC! In this age of telecommunications, ie. phone, fax, teleconferencing, why do our representatives need to maintain residences in DC? Send them back to their home districts. On the rare occasion that they might need to meet, set up a few days per year for doing so!

Any type of campaign reform is a good start. As a futher reform, how about tieing the pay an elected official recivies to the median income to the district they represent! That might be an incentive for them to raise the income level of the little people. They (congressional) politicans also should be given housing at a near by military barracks and fed the same meals our troops eat. This might bring a dose of realality into their lives. Politicans that are supposed to be represtive of the people have become so out of touch with the common people that they are clueless as to the needs of country.

Always be wary of people who propose how to spend other's money. I propose this writer should write checks instead of silly articles.

our government is so wrong................it will never be right.