Taking A Crack Down on Spending

In the 2008 general election, President Barack Obama spent $740 million out of the $745 million he raised and Presidential Nominee John McCain spent $333 million out of the $368 million he raised.

For a country that has a $14 trillion national debt, we continue to give consent to multi-million dollar political campaigns.

Is it absurd to think that this money could instead be used rebuilding this country rather than used to fund a plethora of campaign signs ignored on highways and lawns?

I do believe the Feds should limit how much money can be raised. Besides, those politicians who choose to spend campaign money by going to the Argentina and hiking the Appalachian Trail and such instead of putting towards aiding our country only further reinforces the reason why spending should be limited.

Lawrence Noble, former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission and a national expert on campaign spending stated, "It's about money, it's about free speech, and it's about the ability of corporations to influence elections through the direct use of their ... money." I don't know about you, but "influence" is just a sugar-coded way of saying "bribery." The American citizens that are within the political strata are virtually bribed. "Whose face do I see the most?", "Who has the most bumper stickers?" and finally, "Who has the most money?"

While campaign spending limitations is not the sole answer to restoring America to a “city upon a hill,” it sure is a positive first step.

Global Financial Crisis

Debt

Global Warming

Poverty

Food & Agriculture

Military Spending

Foreign Aid & Affairs

These are only six economic issues America could address with the money used in campaigns. Heck, America could address more than one crisis listed. Imagine how much better off we would be! Yet, we're not. Instead, we're digging ourselves into a deeper black hole.

So now the question is, what do we have to do to climb back out of this hole? I think there is a possible solution. The federal government should set a maximum dollar amount of how much money can be raised in a Presidential election and regulations of what that money should be spent on. Yes, it may seem juvenile, but these candidates behave like a high school student using their Dad's debit card. They spend money because they can. And what's the perfect items to buy with this money? Everything that has their face and/or name large enough for the world to see. Because of the role money is playing in modern day campaigns, Presidential elections have simply became a beauty pageant.

honorable mentions & sources:http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/campaign_finance/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=campaign%20finance&st=cse

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-06-24/politics/south.carolina.governor_1_jenny-sanford-south-carolina-gov-buenos-aires/2?_s=PM:POLITICS