Submitted by William D. Paine, Aug 22, 2007 12:51

As long as we continue to enjoy free speech protections in the Constitution, any form of campaign finance restrictions are bound to fail. Individuals or organizations can spend unlimited amounts of money to promote their favorite candidate (or sling copious mud at their least favorite) so long as they are "independent" of the candidate's official campaign organization. Adding layer upon layer of regulation simply pushes accountability for message content further and further away from the candidate.

What we need is to completely junk all limits on campaign contributions from any and all sources--as long as there is full and complete disclosure on who gave what to whom. If a candidate is bought and paid for by Megapolluter Inc., well, I want to know that; I might still vote for him or her anyway but at least I go into it with my eyes wide open. By junking limits, we might even refocus candidates and their campaigns on addressing issues and forming policy platforms, instead of endless fundraising dinners.

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