Forum Post: Outlaw all campaign contributions

Outlaw all campaign contributions

Some argue it can't be done. Some say even if you do it they will find ways around it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/op031897.htm This guy says it will continue so long as government is big. Grover Norquist will say he is doing it for the better of the people but I will let you decide for yourself on that.

I say we outlaw ALL campaign contributions. Anything that can be considered a gift, service, or promise of later gift, service, payment or even future employment.

They should be held to at least equally stringent standards as federal employees. http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/restrictions-gifts-federal-employees-46809.html http://www.justice.gov/jmd/ethics/generalf.htm

And because their power is so much greater they should be held to an even higher standard of not being able to work in any industry that has benefited from legislation they have passed. Why does the government put such strong requirements on all of their employees except the elected officials. The elected officials have shown they are getting ever more corrupted by the influence so we need to remove it from them. They will not do it to themselves.

Further anyone attempting to gain favor with a current or future elected official should also face jail time. Lobbying elected or appointed officials (judges for example) should become a crime with jail time just like bribing an official because that is what it is.

There shall be an independent review of actions taken and revisions needed every year to keep the legislation as air tight as possible. The revisions to this will be put to vote by the people every year as they cannot be trusted to manage this themselves.

So how would the candidates fund their race. The US Government would provide a set dollar amount for each candidate to use during his election. Every candidate would get the same amount and they CANNOT use funding beyond that provided for their campaign. They also cannot use employees of any company being organized by that company to do their work. Each legitimate political party will also receive the same set amount of money to hold their conventions. Yes we the tax payers will carry this burden as it is the only way to make sure that our elected officials only WORK FOR US! I think we will find it is a good investment.

Under this policy there will no longer be paid for advertising. If the candidate receives any benefit from anyone the person providing the unauthorized benefit will face jail time (there are not authorized non campaign fund paid benefits). This is to prevent some one from putting on a TV ad in the opposing candidates name to get him kicked out of the election. The budget should only allow for travel expenses, a few staffers and a basic office. The candidate who runs the best campaign fiscally will win most of the time as he has to budget properly to have money to the end. Any money left at the end will be returned to the fund. Every candidate will be audited during the campaign and after the campaign and if they are found to have broken the rules their position will be for-fitted and they will go to jail. At that point the legislation should decide what happens next. So long as the jail time is stiff enough and the audit required and independent I doubt many will break the rules.

The political parties will still exist but they will no longer be able to have money beyond what they receive each year for organization and their conventions. This money will be provided by the US Government and unspent funds will be returned. They will also be strictly audited. People will still belong to parties if they want but we should see minor parties bloom allowing more options.