Campaign Finance Laws Favor Wealthy Candidates

Is it any wonder why we have such unresponsive government. It can be argued that we've lost our democracy to the highest bidder, which are not the American people:

- Campaign finance regulations have wrecked havoc on the American election system, entrenching incumbents and reducing voter turnout.

- Campaign finance laws have resulted in lots of millionaires getting elected to office. Wealthy individuals, who can only give $2,000 to someone else who is running for office, face no donation limits to their own campaign.

- And for House and Senate races generally, 29 candidates in 2002 and 23 candidates in 2004 spent more than a million dollars of their own money on their campaigns. While fewer than one percent of Americans earned more than a million dollars a year, at least 123 out of 435 members of congress earned that much.

- The ultimate irony is that in trying to get money out of politics, reformers have made it easier for those with money to get in.