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Tax-Financed Campaigns: A Speech-Chilling, Costly, and Failed Policy
January 1, 2018  •  By IFS Staff  •    •  

Tax-financed campaigns are government-operated programs that seek to replace or supplement private, voluntary campaign contributions with government grants of taxpayer dollars to candidates who meet certain requirements. These programs, often tagged with euphemistic names such as “democracy dollars” or “clean elections,” take many forms. Some provide tax dollars to candidates based on the donations they’ve received while other programs provide…

Citizens Misguided: Media Myths about Citizens United Persist in 2016
January 21, 2016   •  By Luke Wachob   •  , , ,

The Daily Beast recently marked the six year anniversary of Citizens United by carrying on one of the decision’s most prominent legacies: spurring members ...

More Good News for Free Speech in the AP-NORC Poll
December 10, 2015   •  By Luke Wachob   •  , ,

Yesterday, I wrote about a new poll from the Associated Press and National Opinion Research Center revealing that a strong majority of Americans oppose ...

Majority of Americans Oppose Tax-Financed Campaign Schemes
December 9, 2015   •  By Luke Wachob   •  ,

New joint polling from the Associated Press and National Opinion Research Center finds that a majority of Americans oppose tax-financed campaign programs, preferring candidates ...

Solutions that Don’t Solve the Problem
December 3, 2015   •  By Luke Wachob   •  ,

Problem: Some elected officials are directing tax dollars to businesses that pay them under the table. Solution: Give these elected officials more tax dollars ...

Amending Maine’s ‘Clean’ Election Act Will Still Produce More Broken Promises for Mainers
September 21, 2015   •  By Brian Walsh   •  ,

Due to the efforts of proponents of tax-financed campaign schemes – sometimes euphemistically referred to as “clean elections” programs by their advocates – Maine ...

Tax-Financed Campaigns and Corruption in New York: The Wrong Treatment for the Right Diagnosis

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May 13, 2015   •  By Luke Wachob   •  , ,

The arrest of New York State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos on federal corruption charges has added fuel to the already fiery debate over ...

Comments on the Federal Election Commission’s “Public Forum on Women in Politics”
May 12, 2015   •  By David Keating   •  , ,

The Center for Competitive Politics[1] enthusiastically supports efforts to encourage greater participation in political campaigns. Actions to make it easier for citizens to run ...

Support for Maine Legislative Document 1290 (S.P. 465)
May 6, 2015   •  By Matt Nese   •  , ,

On behalf of the Center for Competitive Politics, I write to offer our support for L.D. 1290, which wisely repeals the Maine Clean Election ...

Support for Tax-Financed Presidential Campaigns Sinks to New Low

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April 15, 2015   •  By Luke Wachob   •  ,

Over at NPR, Peter Overby reviews the decline of the Presidential Public Funding Program. Created in 1972, the program provides tax dollars to presidential ...

Leveling the Playing Field? The Role of Public Campaign Funding in Elections
March 8, 2015   •  By Matt Nese   •  ,

In a series of First Amendment cases, the U.S. Supreme Court established that government may regulate campaign finance, but not if regulation imposes costs on ...

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