Two Cents about Three Dollars

Every year at tax time, I happily tick the box to allocate $3 of my federal taxes to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. I've had a vague idea that this was a valuable bit of support for public funding of the presidential elections. It doesn't cost the taxpayer anything extra and any effort to reduce the tyranny of fundraising on the campaign trail must be positive.

Today I came across an article in slate that gave me second thoughts about this donation. First off, I was reminded that McCain and Obama may reject these funds because they can avoid spending caps if they rely on private donations. That could result in $168 million sitting untouched in a Treasury Department account until 2012 (assuming the next presidental campaign took public money). Secondly, the Slate article suggested that about $16 million would go towards each nominating convention. I'm not a fan of pumping more money into these events which seem to be all spectacle and no substance. Why not adopt the British model of an annual party conference which keeps discussion of issues fresh and makes it harder to forget what was said last time around?

It's a moot point this year as my taxes are already mailed off but definitely food for thought for next year.