Q: Want to Get Money Out of Politics?

A:  Prevent candidates from using their own $Money to campaign.

That's it.  It's simple.  Nothing more is necessary.  

Oh wait, you want more?  You want specific reasons for my little Plan?  Okay, here goes...

We've all learned by now that one Mike Bloomberg has decided to throw his extremely expensive fedora into the ring for POTUS 2020.  As a matter of fat, he did it today.

Mike, as you likely know, was the three-term Mayor of New York City and the is the 17th richest man in America.  And as you also likely know, he's been known to use his enormous wealth to try and inflict his personal beliefs on others.  And "inflict" is the operational word.  Like passing a law to restrict NYC's resident's salt intake.  He doesn't like salt, so nobody should else be able to use it, right?  And also preventing them from buying 16 oz. sodas.  Oh, you could get five or ten or fifty 12 oz. sodas, just not one 16 oz.  He also bought and paid for his third mayoral term by spending more than $100 million of his own money to lobby for a change to NY State's constitution to permit it.  And money carried the day.  

He's also America's biggest gun-grabber, professing the willingness to spend any amount of money to try and overturn the 2nd Amendment.  He's funding various anti-gun groups in an effort to sway public opinion, once again wishing to force his will on others.  In short, Mr. Bloomberg is the enemy of anyone who wants to spice their food, buy a Big Gulp or use a gun.    

But being a $Billionaire gives Little Mikey a whole bunch of advantages over his less well heeled competitors.  And he's not alone.  Last month Tom Steyer jumped into the fray.  He's also a multi-$Billionaire, having "earned" his vast wealth via a hedge fund, which made him $Millions betting on coal and oil/gas futures.  Now, however, he's Seen The Light.  Oil/gas/coal now bad, wind/solar/surf now good!  The only issue, according to him, is "Global Warming" or "Climate Chaos," or whatever they're calling it today. And he's using his wealth to try and buy votes from people who share his kooky view that The Sky Is Falling! 

Unfortunately, that "kooky" view is shared by far too many folks these days.  Remember that old adage, "A lie repeated often enough becomes the truth..."

And then there's Deval Patrick.  Ex-two term Governor of Massassasssachewsetts, Patrick jumped from the guvnorship straight to Bain Capital, the very same place that Mitt Romney co-founded way back when.  It was bad for Mitt, just fine for Deval.  Hmmm.  He's now another one of those $Billionaires who desperately wants to buy his way into the Oval Office.

And to these uber-rich we of course add such other POTUS candidates as Sanders (rich!), Warren (rich!), Booker (rich!), Biden (rich!).  In short, with the possible exceptions of Bootygagg and Gabbard, all the candidates for Democrat POTUS 2020 are Stinkin' Rich!

And we keep hearing also that a number of other fabulously wealthy Liberals are also contemplating a run, seemingly because they don't believe any of the current candidates can defeat our own Orange Man Bad $Billionaire, one Mr. D. J. Trump.  So it would seem that the Number One requirement necessary to run for POTUS these days is a dump truck load of cash.  

And I don't think that's the way it ought to be...

So I came up with my little plan that should/could resolve the issue once and for all.  And here it is.  Drum roll please...

Candidates for President of the U. S. of A. should not be permitted to use their own money to campaign.

Got it?  Anyone can run, but they cannot use their own money to do so.  They would have to call their friends and neighbors, bang on doors, write letters and beg for donations on TV.  They would have to look for money all thither and yon if they want to win.  Their campaign would be underwritten by the U. S. taxpayers, of course, as in you and me, as has been the offering for lo, these many years.  

Just as candidates can now opt for Federal Funding for their campaigns, which recent candidates have refused to do (Bush, Obama, Trump), believing they could raise more without it, my little Plan would give each qualified candidate Federal matching funds, i.e., one dollar for each dollar raised publicly perhaps.  They raise $1,000, they'd get another $1,000.  Or, another way might be that they'd get so much money for each registered voter.  The mechanism could easily be worked out. 

Either way, they'd have to appeal to you and me if they want to win; no donations from us, no fuel for their campaigns.  It might prove interesting to watch a Bloomberg or a Patrick or a Steyer have to humble themselves, having been reduced to the same stature as one of their "poorer" competitors, but it would prevent a guy like late-entrant Steyer from spending $47 Million to get on the stage at the 4th debate.  There's something really unseemly about that, me thinks. 

And it would also prevent some guy like Bloomberg from adding the exclamation point to his POTUS campaign by purchasing the single biggest TV media buy in U. S. history.  He's bought $31,000,000 of TV adds to run between November 25th and December 2nd.  Is that fair to Gabbard?  Or Boootygagg?  Or anyone else, for that matter?

They're running on TV right now.  I hope for your sake you can find a way to avoid them...

The Presidency should not be for sale.  So let's not let anyone buy it.  Nor should senate seats be sold to the highest bidder.  Or House seats, or any other elected office.  My simple Plan calls for leveling the playing field.  If you'd like to get the money out of politics, this is perhaps the only way...