“We’ve got to get the money out of politics!” If you’ve watched the news, listened to the radio, read a newspaper, etc… over the last 2-3 years, you’ve no doubt heard someone say just that: “We’ve got to get the money out of politics.” In fact, recent legislation (namely, McCain – Feingold) have been written to accomplish just that. While readying Tom DeLay’s _No Retreat, No Surrender_, however, I began to ask myself a question: Why? What are the problems with money in politics?

Now, obviously I am not saying that I support congressman being bribed for their vote (a.l.a. William Jefferson, Democrat Louisiana, allegedly), but I am saying I’d rather have an oil company paying to fly a congressman to A.N.W.A.R. to view potential drilling locations then have Congressman jet around the country on my tax dollars.

Speaking of my tax dollars, a tangential aspect of “getting the money out of politics” is the concept of “publicly funded election.” Though a full discussion of publicly funded elections is probably deserves its own full post, I will add now that my logic from the previous paragraph carries over. “Why should my hard earned tax dollars go to some general pot where any yahoo can use it for his political campaign? Why can’t I decide what I want to do with my money? What can’t I decide who I want my money to support?”

So who benefits most by not allowing money from the private sector into politics? Well, certainly not the tax payer, and certainly not those politicians who scrapped by in a life of public service. No, instead it’s those politicians who can afford to augment their vast personal wealth with tax payer funded perks, politicians like Speaker Pelosi or Senator Kennedy. In other words, the same people who are decrying private sector money in politics are those who have the most to gain by keeping it out.