Thanks, Mark Shields, for calling Gigot on equating dollars with speech. If it is indeed OK to buy political influence in America, then I may as well quit voting.

Keep up the good work.

_______________________________

Eric Levinson, Napa , CA

Common Cause and campaign spending limits

Both Shields and Gigot did not mention that the biggest hole in the Campaign finance limitations was punched by the Buckley decision. That decison did equate money with speech by allowing Buckley to use unlimited amounts of his own money in his campaign for the Senate seat from New York.

Until you can find a way around that equation, the best that can be done is to require full disclosure of who is paying for what and where the funding comes from. In the case of broadcast ads, FCC regulations might be brought to bear. In the case of print and direct mail pieces, there is no effective curb.

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