Campaign Finance Laws, Campaign Finance Reform Quotes



Mexicans were very sensitive to the problem of a leader being elected and then controlling the police, media and election system, keep getting elected. Diaz ran on a slogan of a term limit of a single term. He was elected on that basis and served one term and stepped down. Then, breaking his campaign pledge, he ran again and served term after term for 30 years. The Mexican Revolution resulted. The Mexican Constitution was then written to have a term limit of one 6 year term.


That particular Libertarian platform called for the abolition / repeal of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Post Office, Federal election Commission and campaign finance laws. Extreme radical ideas such as this are not typical of Libertarian Party positions before or afterwards. The quotation illustrates that there are people in America who would end public education if they could. The quotation also illustrates how a small cadre of people can capture control of a political party and create a platform that is their own personal views which may be different from most of the party members or the historical position that the party has taken. In 1980 the Libertarian Party Vice Presidential Candidate was David Koch, one half of the billionaire conservative Koch brothers. Their money financed the Libertarian Party in that year and David Koch’s views then prevailed in the party platform. Historically, the Koch brothers moved from a minor third party to the Republican party at the beginning of the 21st century when their money was able to help drive the party very far to the right from the traditions of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.


Referring to the Supreme Court 5-4 decision—Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission--that allows corporations and rich individuals to spend unlimited amounts of money campaigning to the advantage of particular candidates.