Election Issues Today

Ah, a reprieve from political advertising!  Just one day, in honor of the anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, but what a wonderful gesture!

Now…I think, as a genuine gift to us, the citizenry, the voters, and especially the television watchers, both presidential candidate ought to continue the advertising moratorium for another six weeks or so.

Just think, if we could compress all the advertising into the last two weeks or so of the campaign, we not only could more easily schedule our time to avoid all television, the candidates would save so many MILLIONS of dollars, they could fund at least one major social initiative that would actually BENEFIT the people of the United States.

The cost of our elections is crazier than ever.  Part of this is due to the length of the campaigns, which begin two years before the general election.  Another cause is the cost of television advertising and the seemingly UNLIMITED resources of the richer candidates, their supporters, the corporations, and the political action committees.

Even the Federal Elections Commission is partly to blame in providing more and more money from the voluntary “earmarks” provided by taxpayers on the IRS Form 1040.

I think it is obscene.  We could at least stock the food banks in America, which are in crisis due to the recession.