[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 8841-8842]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     PUBLIC FINANCING OF CAMPAIGNS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, at the moment, I think it is safe to 
say that the most important issue for the American people is the state 
of the economy and the massive amount of taxing, spending, and 
borrowing that some in Washington are proposing as an antidote to the 
downturn.
  Yet now comes news of another proposal out of Washington that is sure 
to make most Americans join together in unison and exclaim, ``Only in 
Washington.''
  Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported on the return of a 
uniquely bad idea. I am referring to bailouts for politicians or what 
some people politely refer to as public financing of campaigns.
  In recent years, this horrible idea has been championed by some who 
later abandoned this very system during their own campaigns. Well, it 
is hard to defend a system that is rejected even by its strongest 
advocates. It is harder still to justify handouts for politicians at a 
time of soaring deficits, a shrinking economy, and massive job losses.
  At a time when most Americans are outraged that tax dollars have been 
used to pay million-dollar bonuses to executives at failed financial 
firms, it's hard to convince anyone that taxpayer dollars should cover 
the cost of balloons, bunting, and campaign barbecues.
  But don't take it from me--every year, Americans register their 
opposition to the idea of taxpayer-funded campaigns in the largest 
nationwide poll ever devised. On April 15, Americans are asked on their 
tax forms whether they support taxpayer-funded

[[Page 8842]]

elections. The question is clear and straightforward: Do we want our 
money to go to soldiers and schools or streamers and stump speeches? 
Well, more than 90 percent of us vote for the former--and the 
percentage only seems to get higher every year. In 1980, the percentage 
of Americans who agreed to divert their tax money from the Treasury to 
pay for political campaigns reached its high water mark at 28.7 
percent. Since then, it's plummeted. In 2007, the last year for which 
figures are readily available, 8.3 percent of taxpayers thought 
taxpayer funded elections were a good idea.
  America faces many challenges at the moment, and the American 
taxpayer is justifiably worried about the prospect of what too much 
spending, too much taxing, and too much borrowing will mean for the 
future of our country and for our children. Congress should heed the 
advice of nearly all Americans: Don't use our tax dollars to pay for 
your political campaigns. Taxpayer-funded campaigns are a bad idea at 
any time, according to 90 percent of Americans. They are a really bad 
idea in the middle of a recession.
  I yield the floor.

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