Outsider campaign money reaching an all-time high

"If there’s anyone who still believes that the campaign-finance law is doing any good at reducing the impact of money in politics, consider the following examples. Deborah Pryce (OH), the fourth ranking Republican in the House, was hit by a million-dollar negative ad blitz this summer that originated not from her opponent, but from an unholy trinity of trial lawyers, union leaders and MoveOn.org. The Maryland Fund, a 527 of national Democrat supporters, launched a media blitz against Governor Robert Ehrlich’s re-election. The AFL-CIO, which seems to be more interested in politics than labor issues, is spending $40 million on a get-out-the-vote effort targeted to boost Demo fortunes across the country, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce plans to spend $20 million to help federal candidates.

Independent groups with political agendas are dumping so much money into tight congressional races this year that it has in some cases eclipsed candidate spending. Organizations on the left and the right have spent a total of $34 million in campaign money in 2006. This is double what was spent in 2002, when soft-money contributions to the political parties were banned, and there are still four weeks to go before Election Day. The real tragedy here is that outside groups with narrow interests are affecting races in areas of the country where their agendas do not mesh with constituent concerns. 527s, unions and rich political gadflies are dictating an agenda to voters whose broader concerns in their district are not being addressed. This is not a case for further tinkering with existing campaign-finance laws, but a case for scrapping them altogether."

From The Patriot Post