If we learned anything from this election, it's that obscene amounts of money that could have been better spent elsewhere went to put ads on TV, radio and the Internet, to put mounds of junk ads into our mailboxes, place billboards and signs all over our towns and highways, and of course, shower us with lovely, unceasing robocalls. Shedon Adelson alone spent $57.7 million on super-PACs.
Everyone says we ought to curb campaign spending, but it's not going to happen, not as long as the politicians on the receiving end of the funds, or who benefit from super-PAC support, are the ones who need to figure out how to reform the way they campaign.
So, while they're spinning their wheels, let's try a stop-gap measure. Impose a federal tax on all political advertising that supports federal candidates, pans their opponents, or where money changes hands so that a political view can be expressed to, say, more than 500 people at once. This would include advertising by lobbying groups trying to influence legislation. State taxes could be imposed on advertising for state office candidates or lobbyists trying to influence state legislation, like all the pro-fracking ads on TV. I'd even be make an exception for bumper stickers and campaign buttons, so regular citizens could express their views without being taxed. (But not lawn signs, which are as ugly as billboards. You want a lawn sign, fine, but you ought to at least pay something to your town for ruining the scenery.)
I think I'd mind the ads and billboards and robocalls a smidge less if I knew a percentage of the megabucks spent would be used to, say, fund election reforms, or help pay off the deficit.
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