An idea for campaign reform
There is only one way to truly reform campaign finance, but no politician will ever support it.
Individuals and companies would be able to donate as much as they wish, just not to a candidate, or PAC, or such. Special interest groups and individuals such as George Soros or the Koch brothers would not be able to unduly influence the outcome of elections by giving more cash to certain candidates. What else is there?
All candidates for an office, regardless of political party, would register with an office to oversee the donations for that office. Then that office would give each candidate equal amounts of money to use in running for that office.
No more slush funds. No more war chests full of left-over donations not needed. All candidates would have the same amount of money with which to campaign. How they spent it would be their choice. Of course, they would have to account for every penny received and spent to ensure nobody profited from this setup.
Nobody would be able to “buy” an office by outspending others. All candidates would have an equal chance to present their platform to the voters. Then the voters could make a better-informed decision come election day. Is this system perfect? No, but it’s better than what we now have.
Many on both sides of the aisle are complaining about lies being spread by various means.
The “mainstream media” is as guilty as any for parroting lies and half-truths put out by various candidates. What we need (and the media should provide) is an unbiased way of checking on candidates’ claims and statements regarding their campaigning. Perhaps if the media was to be unbiased, we might actually have a couple of good choices for president next time.
News outlets, do your job of informing the public and vetting candidates and this country will benefit greatly from it. No one party or person has all the answers, so honesty in reporting benefits everybody, except maybe the losing candidates.
Cameron Triplett
Brooksville
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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