Some thoughts on "Campaign Finance Reform"

One person on Fark suggested we should have 100% Federal funding of elections now. I'm not very fond of that idea, so I suggested this instead:

All campaign contributions go directly to the Federal Election Commission. Half the money goes directly into into a candidate's account, with the remaining half split evenly among all qualified candidates. (For a two-candidate race, this works out to a 75/25 split for every dollar donated.) A candidate can *only* spend the money that is in his account, and it can only be used for campaign expenses (no "become a candidate and get a redwood deck and hot tub"), with the record of all expenses made public in a timely manner.

In addition, drop all limits on campaign contributions (there's no real need, since a portion of each donation can be used by all candidates), and have the FEC report every individual donation above a certain amount, as well as all corporate and foreign donations of *any* amount. A candidate can only start accepting donations and start drawing money once they have entered the race, which would force them to state their intentions fairly early in the campaign, and all money that isn't spent by election day can help fund the election itself.

This way, only the people who want to contribute are "taxed" for the campaign, and third parties would gain a voice that is drowned out by the two major parties.

I realize this isn't the "pure Libertarian ideal" for financing elections, but it is fairer than taxing everyone *or* putting limits on donations.