Obama Opposes Bid to End Public Financing of Presidential Elections

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), a member of the House Budget Committee, and 18 co-sponsors introduced a bill, HR 359, that would end public financing of presidential elections and political party conventions. Supporters tout the bill as a deficit-reduction measure. The White House disagrees.

Pointing out that the public financing system was put in place after Watergate (a scandal involving a Republican presidential campaign), the Office of Management and Budget released a public statement of administration policy strongly opposed to the bill. OMB said the effect of the bill would be "to force many candidates into an endless cycle of fundraising at the expense of engagement with voters on the issues; and to place a premium on access to large donor or special interest support, narrowing the field of otherwise worthy candidates." Essentially, the administration said it would be a second blow following the Citizen's United decision in September 2009 that allowed corporations and unions to directly fund ads advocating the election of candidates in the immediate run-up to federal elections and primaries.