House Republicans will surely invoke their all-purpose rationale — deficit savings — as they try on Thursday to repeal the public financing option for presidential campaigns. This is the highly effective reform enacted after the Watergate scandal. It is revealing that just as a new era of unbridled corporate and special-interest money engulfs the 2012 elections, Republicans are determined to kill off the public financing option.
For decades, every major candidate opted for the subsidies and the spending limits until Congress failed to increase the federal match to account for campaign inflation. George W. Bush opted out for the primary fight in his 2000 campaign, seeking a larger war chest from private donors. Barack Obama dropped it for both the primary and general elections. He vowed to fix a “broken” system — not now as he enjoys unprecedented private financing.
Watergate? Whatever Was That?
via nytimes.com
