Put An End To Paid Political Advertising

[Commentary] Americans are sold their politicians like they are sold soap. Recent Court decisions seem to have raised the stakes by allowing nearly anyone, even corporations, an unlimited right to spend money for political purposes - to influence the outcome of elections. Responsible broadcasters should take no part in this and responsible citizens and taxpayers should demand that their radio and television frequencies not be used as a crucial determinant in the electoral process. After all, the airwaves belong to all of us. Americans who run for public office are not consumer products. They should not be sold to the public as if they were with an advantage to those with the most money to spend.

Station owners who license the public airwaves, and have the ability to operate at a profit, and then sell those licenses for a capital gain, have an obligation to serve the public interest. They already provide news, weather, and other information programming in fulfillment of that license requirement. They should also contribute to the public discourse and dialogue about elections and candidates without having to generate more revenue. The availability of free time to candidates combined with the prohibition on others buying additional time would eliminate the fundamental unfairness of "selling candidates" like so many hamburgers, automobiles or bottles of beer. Paid political advertising on radio and TV should become a thing of the past.