Campaign Finance Reform

This topic is a little off the beaten path for me since it isn't really about fiscal policy.

However, it is in the news since the Supreme Court is on the subject again. In addition, it's all about selecting who gets to make fiscal policy and that is in my wheelhouse.

As most of you have gathered, I don't hold politicians in high esteem. I respect the office but it seems most office holders are lying, cheating, obfuscating, thieving sons of bitches.

Even those who are good are forced to spend most of their time raising money to combat the bullshitters, pinheads and windbags running against them. I, for one, would prefer it if they'd just do their jobs and fix the country's problems without putting us all in the poorhouse.

The big issue, ironically, is freedom of speech! I suspect we'd all like a lot less talk and a good deal more action solving problems.

So here's my idea; rather than limit how much money can be raised by who, for who or for/against what, let's limit all political campaigns to the 30 calendar days immediately preceding election (or primary) day. Print, TV, yard signage, radio and internet. Two weeks to lay out the plan, one week for rebuttal/debate and the rest for whatever.

We can also force all primaries to be held on the same day to prevent state-to-state contamination; I, for one, couldn't care less about the races in Manhattan yet I'm forced to endure it for months on end.

In addition, we'll insist that all unspent funds be given to a pre-selected list of charities the day after the election and that those charities are a matter of public record.

This has a ton of beneficial rewards and I'll list a few:

• Only those with solid plans will make it; no time for nonsense.
• Well organized candidates will have an advantage and get to prove who they are.
• The public will be spared endless political ads.
• The public can be more focused and weed out the bullshit early.
• It might improve voter interest and turnout; as opposed to disgust and disinterest.
• There will be fewer attack ads; with less time, better to focus on plans, not attacks.
• Unions, rich guys and the rest of us will be on equal footing.
• Charity gets a big boost since most candidates are losers (Weiner, Spitzer, Palin, etc.).
• The court can focus on more important matters.
• Once elected, more time can be spent working on problems.

This will not stop the endless chatter on Fox and MSNBC or in the Editorial pages since that's free speech too. It also won't fix the fact that most voters don't really grasp what's going on.

However, it will prevent the financing of political hacks with taxpayer money; who wants to pay to elect liberals to steal their money?