Supporters of strict campaign finance and speech restrictions recently announced their plan to revive the government subsidy program for presidential elections.
Today, CCP chairman Bradley Smith weighed in with an op-ed published in USA Today. The column outlines some of the basic arguments against taxpayer financing.
Smith notes that taxpayer-financed elections:
– Suppress speech by ordinary citizens.
– Decrease confidence in government.
– Do not increase electoral competition.
– Have increased the number of lobbyists in Maine.
CCP has already noted that the major purpose of the presidential funding bill is to restrict and limit a candidate’s ability to speak. And the coercive matching fund provision is the vehicle of choice for forcing speech limits upon all candidates.
The Hill also recently published an op-ed highlighting the dangers of taxpayer-financed elections.
