1. AIM: What rules govern campaign financing & what are the impacts of these rules?
DO NOW: Alternatives to the Electoral College.
Which do you prefer?
(District-Proportional-Direct Election)

3. the 2016 election (from Bloomberg.com)
CLINTON
Total Raised   $911.3M
Total Spent  $432.2M
Total Cash on Hand   $226.7M
TRUMP Total Raised to Date   $423.2M
Total Spent   $212.9M
Total Cash on Hand   $111.7M

4. What makes elections so expensive?
TV advertising: a 30 second ad costs from $200k to $500k (in prime time)
Polls: campaigns must contract polling firms to conduct public opinion surveys
Direct mailings to voters’ homes
Staff: professional campaign managers demand high salaries, in addition to costs for local campaign staffs

8. Where do the funds come from?
Individual contributions
The candidates’ personal funds
Organized interest groups [PACs, Political Action Committees], such as unions, business groups, and ethnic-based groups.
Fund raising events, especially dinners featuring speeches and celebrity appearances.

9. Check, Please: Dinner with Clooney, Clinton $175K Per Plate
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Check, Please: Dinner with Clooney, Clinton $175K Per Plate
At a March 2016 fundraiser in San Francisco, for the Hillary Clinton Victory Fund

10. Where do the funds come from?
Public money: taxpayers money is available
BUT accepting this money forces candidates to agree to limits on total spending [$96 million per candidate for the 2016 presidential election]
- so most reject it, as they can raise more from private sources.

11. The issue of fairness
Obviously, wealthy individuals and interest groups are able to contribute far more than disadvantaged individuals and interest groups representing them
This enables privileged groups to buy influence- a sort of legalized bribery

13. Legal restrictions loopholes
Presidential candidates may receive a maximum amount of public money
Individuals may contribute a maximum of $2,000 to candidates for federal offices
PACs are limited to $5000 per candidate
Mostly, candidates simply refuse public money, so they can spend as much as they wish
“soft money” contributions to a party (as opposed to a specific candidate) are unlimited
Individuals and PACs may donate to as many candidates as they wish

14. Another loophole: independent advertising
There are no limits on how much interest groups may spend on advertising, so long as the ad does not endorse a specific candidate
Ads attacking a specific candidate are perfectly legal, however
Efforts to limit independent advertising have been blocked by the courts, as an unconstitutional restriction on _________

16. Campaign finance reform ideas
Free air time for candidates on Radio & TV
State-funded campaigns for all Federal offices, with $ distributed equally to candidates
Strict limits on the amount spent per voter by each candidate
Stricter financial disclosure requirements