The escalating cost of political campaigns is linked to the need to pay for television advertising, which is usually more than 55% of the cost of a campaign. These costs are staggering. The average cost of a Senate campaign in 2004 was $4 million, and that of a House campaing was $1 million. The cost of a typical 30-second TV ad in 2005 was $200 to $1,000. The continuing requirement to raise funds for these campaigns results in reliance on affluent donors or organizations which are able to contribute large amounts of funds. While individual's contributions are limited to $2000/year, but there is no limit to contributions to PAC's, or to national organizations such as political parties, which can then run ads for their candidates.

This distorts the political process, causing it to favor the interests of affluent donors over those of the middle class and the less affluent. It forces candidates to rely upon financial assistance from organizations such as National Party treasuries and PAC's, which are located outside of the districts of the voters which the candidate represents, and whose interests are not those of the candidate's constituency. It results in the accumulation of wealth by politicians who raise more than they spend, giving them an unfair advantage over future challenging candidates. Commercial broadcasters therefore devote more time to the broadcast of political advertising and less to the coverage of social issues.

The result is legislation which promotes the needs of affluent donors and organizations which do not reflect the need of local voters, to the detriment of everyone else. The Economic Policy Institute notes in their analysis of the Census Bureau's report that the average inflation-adjusted family income of middle-class Americans declined by 0.7 percent in 2004, while the wealthiest five percent of families enjoyed a 1.7 percent increase. Since 2000, worker output per hour has increased by 15 percent, yet for men working full-time, their annual incomes declined 2.3 percent. This trend can be only reversed by lowering the cost of political campaigns and changing the source of campaign funding.

Proposed Solutions

-- Forcing television stations to provide free time for political advertising would diminish the fundraising need by 55%.

-- Limiting campaign length to six weeks, as is done in England, would further diminish the fund raising need.

-- Public financing of political campaigns would reduce the reliance on affluent donors.

-- Forcing candidates to either return excess funds to the US treasury or pay taxes on them would reduce the power of incumbents in future elections

-- Eliminating non-local contributions would force candidates to raise funds locally which would make them more attentive to the needs of the constituents who reside in their districts.

-- The limited use of public broadcasting for political advertising would lessen the cost of campaigns.