Campaign Finance Reform

I just read an article in USA Today that Obama leads Romney 47% to 45% -- in money spent on campaign advertising. Curiously that seems to be about the same lead as he has in the real polls, or is that not really a coincidence at all?

How do the hundreds of millions of dollars that are being spent on this year’s presidential election translate into the quality of the United States Government?

Here are a few things to think about:

•      How many people give large amounts of money without expecting something in return? And if they do expect favors, are they really not engaging in legalized bribery?

•      How much time does the president of the United States spend campaigning for the office? How much time does he spend campaigning for someone else who wants to be elected? Several years ago I watched a 60 Minutes interview with a retiring US senator who indicated he spent 60% of his time either raising money for his reelection campaign or actually campaigning for reelection. Is this how we want our elected officials to spend their time? We need dedicated legislators who care as much about the country as they do about keeping their jobs; we don't need professional fundraisers.

Welfare Spending: Are State Restrictions Really the Answer?

USA Today recently carried an article detailing many states’ efforts to curtail how welfare recipients spend their welfare payments. In many states, welfare recipients will no longer be allowed to use their stipends on liquor, gambling, cigarettes, strip clubs, and guns. Apparently it's been decided that these listed indiscretions should only be allowed to those few people who can truly afford to waste their money doing them. (Although it comes as no surprise that those who can afford to do so generally do not). This is the case despite the fact that the same legislators, who are now creating an economic bar to certain specified sins, have long ago declared all these sins to be perfectly legal. Indeed, I presume that many, perhaps most, of the members of the enabling legislatures probably engage in many of these activities themselves. So I guess it’s ok to sin, as long as you do it with money you have earned.

But who gets to choose which uses of welfare benefits are acceptable and which must be outlawed?