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of those without money unrepresented. Not to mention all the time wasted by candidates dialing-for-dollars and raising money like some televangelist rather than focusing on the issues and the needs of their constituents.

There's also the "I don't want my money going to candidates I don't support" argument. But you can make the same argument for anything the government spends money on. What if you don't want "your tax dollars" going to fix the pot-holes in front your jerk neighbor's house because it's his own fault for putting so much salt on his driveway? There are some things we must decide on and pay for as a community. We decide on them through a representative government and we pay for them through taxes. Making democracy work is one of those things we should decide on and pay for as a community.

But most of the issues raised are completely solvable, if they have not already been solved. For example, in the public campaign financing legislation already enacted in 7 states, initial support is typically measured by a candidate's ability to raise a set number of $5 donations from voters in the constituency. If you own a multi-billion dollar company your support is worth just as much as anyone else. The candidate's participation in public financing is always voluntary so the "the government" is not forcing anything on anyone. If the candidate chooses to participate and qualifies with the specified number of donations, he gets a debit card loaded with an amount determined by previous campaigns for that office. The candidate must use that card to pay for all campaign expenses so everything is transparent and recorded. I know in the California version, there were provisions to allow additional funding if the candidate was the victim of attack ads from a candidate not using the public financing option. The legislation is actually really well thought out and addresses many concerns that the dissenting commenters haven't thought of. I'm always disappointed and frustrated when Americans dismiss public funding of election campaigns out of blind fear and mistrust of "the government," because that fear and mistrust is exactly what this is trying to fix and why we need to fix it.

We recognize the need for equality in our elections when we tell our children anyone can run for offices. But we all know, while it's true anyone who meets the age and citizenship requirements can "run" for office, but this is pretty worthless without a campaign. The ability to campaign, and therefor

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