Campaign Finance Reform We Can Live With

McCain-Feingold is one of the greatest losses of freedom we have experienced in recent history. All in the name of taking "Big Money" out of politics. I am sick and tired of politicians stealing our freedoms in the name of "reform" or "anti-corruption". They always paint their hair-brained schemes as a brilliant solution to our problems, camoflauging the true effects of their so-called reforms. So, in the name of true reform, I propose the following campaign finance laws that will restore our freedoms and put the lie to the stupid solutions that self-serving politicians have foisted on us for years.

Only citizens of the United States can contribute to a political campaign.
If you can vote in an election, you can contribute to a campaign. If you can't vote - you can't contribute. This means that corporations cannot donate to a campaign, because they can't vote, and neither can political action committees or lobbying groups.

Citizens can only contribute to a candidate that they can actually vote for
I can contribute to the candidates running to become MY congressman, but not to the candidates running to become YOUR congressman.

Citizens can contribute as much as they want
It's my money and I can spend it how I want to.

No candidates for ANY office can use public funds to finance their campaign
We have more important things to do with our funds - like pay off the national debt.

Candidates have to disclose who gave donations in excess of $1,000
That way the citizens can monitor if their elected officials are pandering to any one donor.

Corporations can purchase air time and print space to run issue campaigns, but cannot mention any candidate by name or issue endorsements to any candidate
They can clarify their issues to educate the public, and then the public can see which candidate best matches those issues. Again, corporations can advertise and advocate for their positions, but since they are not citizens and can't vote - they can't campaign.

This list of rules may seem a little simplistic, but maybe simplicity is something we could use in this country. The complicated schemes of slick politicians sure don't seem to produce the desired result.