This amendment follows the public financing option for elections to federal office.
Section 1
All campaigns for President and Members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate shall be financed entirely with public funds. No contributions shall be permitted to any candidate for Federal office from any other source, including the candidate.
Section 2
No expenditures shall be permitted in support of any candidate for Federal office, or in opposition to any candidate for Federal office, from any other source, including the candidate. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press.
Section 3
The Congress shall, by statute, provide limitations on the amounts and timing of the expenditures of such public funds.
Section 4
The Congress shall, by statute, provide criminal penalties for any violation of this Article.
Section 5
The Congress shall have the power to implement and enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Sponsor: Rep Kucinich, Dennis J.-OH
Section 1 specifies only public funds to be used for candidate campaigns for federal offices. President, Senators, Representatives.
It does not mention independent spending.
Section 2 prohibits independent spending. This section includes a disclaimer intended to protect freedom of the press - for this section only.
Section 3 requires Congress to set limits on the amount of money spent, and the time frame for spending it.
Section 4 requires Congress to establish criminal penalties for any violation of "this Article".
Section 5 is the oft-missing authorization to Congress to write law pursuant to this amendment.
1. Section 1 shuts off all campaign funding other than public funds (aka taxpayer dollars) for federal elections. I would like to see language requiring equal funding for all candidates who meet the proper criteria.
2. I would also like to see criteria tying eligibility to qualifying for a ballot or caucus. I have three thoughts along these lines:
a) Several candidates for president have failed to qualify for election in some states. This should diminish their funding accordingly rather than give them a spending advantage in other states.
b) This could give a boost for political parties other than the Big Two.
c) This would encourage lots of people to run, so qualifications for getting on a ballot would be more important than ever or the field could get flooded with casual candidates.
3. Section 2 shuts off independent spending for/against candidates for federal office. It does not mention the implicit campaigning of "issue" ads.
4. It occurs to me that as a consequence of this limitation, new campaigning may arise for presidential nominations requiring confirmation. Such campaigning would not be covered by this amendment because they are not up for election.
5. I find the wording of section 4 intriguing. It requires penalties for violations of "this Article". Only the 14th amendment explicitly requires penalties, and those penalties are too weak to be effective. Given that the levers of power are at stake, effective penalties would have to be swift and enormous to make an effective deterrent.
Convictions for violating current election laws have not served to discourage others from repeating the violations. Do we start arresting people? This is a crime in real time. Can we identify the proper person in time to keep it from influencing an election? Do we penalize them financially? Jail time? When you are dealing with the ability to change law, influence enforcement, manipulate the judiciary, what sort of stick offsets the biggest carrot in the world?
I would like to see this Article require severe criminal penalties for violations of both the Article and the laws made pursuant thereto.
I would also like to see some time limits for implementation.
Congress shall complete legislation implementing this article within six months of ratification.
Or some such mandate.