Still a Bad Idea
It is amazing to me how even people who consider themselves conservatives can be so pro-speech regulation.
If you don't like outsiders giving to your candidates in your state, there is a much better solution than asking Congress to pass a new law banning out-of-state contributions.
Don't vote for the candidate who takes the money.
What a concept!
And incumbents don't have a fundraising advantage? Oh c'mon! Get serious.
If the Washington PACs can't contribute, they will get their cronies in state to do so.
Get real. Incumbents WILL win if little money is spent by the challenger. They have a huge name ID advantage. Challengers need to raise a threshold amount to get viable.
No one will come in with independent speech if the candidate isn't some kind of contender. So, yes, crush the egg and there will be no candidates who will be hatched. Or no one anyone would want to put any money into speaking out for.
Oh yes, and did you forget that incumbent congressmen can easily spend $500,000 per election cycle from us taxpayers to pay for their congressional mass mailing privileges, email blasting, robocalls and yes even radio ads. Let me tell you, that stuff is little more than propaganda.
And no one has addressed the problem of breaking a corrupt political machine. I've seen the effects on people first hand. People will not donate in-state against the machine.
So if you are comfortable with machine-style politics, then by all means support this bad idea. The rest of us prefer freedom.
