End Taxpayer Financing for Presidential Candidates

Last month, the Federal Election Commission announced that it has doled out $17.7 million in taxpayer money to both the Republican and Democratic parties to fund their 2012 presidential nominating conventions. Days later, U.S. debt reached $15 trillion. The timing of these two events reinforces the fact that is is simply outrageous to devote millions in taxpayer money to pay for presidential campaigns when we're going broke.

I've introduced multiple pieces of legislation to eliminate public funding for presidential campaigns. The House passed my first bill last January and recently passed a similar bill I co-sponsored with Rep. Gregg Harper.

H.R. 3463, which passed the House on December 1,would save $650 million over 10 years. That may not seem like a lot of money, given the current fiscal challenges we face; however, we must start somewhere. This legislation does two important things: Eliminates an antiquated, outdated system of the public financing of elections and terminates an obsolete commission.

When the Presidential Election Campaign Fund (PECF) was created, it was during a time when Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and even the widespread use of the internet did not exist. That is no longer the case. Today, donating to a candidate is as easy as calling up a web page and entering a credit card number. In fact, a majority of donations in the 2012 election cycle made to presidential candidates are of $200 or less.

It is important to remember even at the height of the program's popularity more than a quarter-century ago, less than one-third of taxpayers chose to support presidential public financing. Check off participation reached a high point in 1980, when 28.7 percent of filers designated funds for the PECF. Since then, participation has substantially declined. In 2009, taxpayer participation reached a low of 7.3 percent. When President Obama opted out of the system in 2008 and raised $745 million, all without a dime of public assistance, he sent a message that public financing is a thing of the past.

Beyond that, this legislation would terminate funding for the political parties' conventions. During a time of trillion dollar deficits, these expenditures are an unneeded luxury.

The second part of the bill repeals the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The EAC is the epitome of government waste. While at one time it may have served a valuable function, assisting states in buying new voting machines and modernizing voter registration records, that time has long since gone. The National Association of Secretaries of State, the direct beneficiaries of the agency's services, has passed two separate resolutions calling for the EAC's dissolution.

With a $15 trillion debt, Congress must get serious about spending reduction. If we can't cut something like this, what can we cut? These antiquated programs are clearly unnecessary. They don't feed anyone. They don't keep anyone warm. They don't make our nation more safe. In times like these, we need to re-evaluate all of our governmental priorities and remove pieces that are useless. The Senate has refused to pass my earlier bill to eliminate these wasteful programs. With H.R. 3463, they have another chance. The Senate should act immediately to cut $650 million by eliminating this welfare program for politicians.