chucksense
Chuck Burt from MA, WatertownI think the crucial area for public campaign financing to exist is in re-election campaigns. New candidates would still require private fundraising, however it should be eliminated as soon as the individual is sworn in as a public official. This also limits the amount of funds that are wasted on "losing" candidates as incumbents typically win more often. It should be set up as a percentage of opponents earnings, ie for every dollar raised by a challenging candidate the incumbent receives 70 cents of public funds. This lessens the ties to special interest groups and allows them to focus on their work rather than fundraising while in office.
Winterset says:
""From what I can tell, people who don't support him fall into one of two categories: either they don't know the truth about his opinions on the issues or they want their views to be forced on others. The latter really won't be changed but we can certainly help spread the word to those that fall into the former."
Or #3: they actually care about perception of the US on the world court. Whether for personal reasons (ie they like to travel) or professional (ie they do business in other countries too).
Ron Paul supports pulling out of all (or most) trade agreements. From his website:
"So called free trade deals and world governmental organizations like the International Criminal Court (ICC), NAFTA, GATT, WTO, and CAFTA are a threat to our independence as a nation. They transfer power from our government to unelected foreign elites." ... We must withdraw from any organizations and trade deals that infringe upon the freedom and independence of the United States of America.
This would further sour US perception on the world stage. As if it wasn't bad enough already.
Anyway, just my two cents as someone that enjoys traveling internationally AND does business internationally.
-Chuck
