The New York State Conservative Party has come out against the public financing of campaigns today in a legislative memo that sent to every member of the Legislature. Their opposition stems from the idea that full disclosure of campaign filings is the only viable campaign finance reform and argue that forcing taxpayers to fund campaigns they do not support is not a wise use of taxpayer’s dollars.
In an interesting twist, the group argues that public financing of campaigns (as they envision it) would allow matching funds for fringe candidates, which seems to suggest that they don't view themselves as outside the mainstream of politics.
What's more amusing is that while advocating for disclosure, the party doesn't advocate for campaign limits and only supports disclosure of expenditures, while ignoring the problem of where the money is coming from.
I guess it's good that they support full disclosure, as politicians use their campaign money for all sorts of things, with the Conservative Party highlighting a campaign war chest used to purchase a car.
(Sent them an e-mail for answers on the questions I have. Let's see what happens!)
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