crating jobs for corrupt politicians and lobbyists

Politicians form strong networks based on those donations. That's why government process has just become a bargaining chip.

I've said for years now that the only way to have TRUE democracy is to get the money out of politics. But the reality is that it will never happen because nobody can come up with a workable plan to do it. I think you may have hit on an idea here.

What if we DID tax people, corporations, PACs, anyone who donates to political campaigns, at 100% of the amount they donated (i.e. you give $1 million to Candidate X, you now owe $1 million in taxes)? I think you'd see a DRAMATIC decrease in the amount of money big corporations would give to politicians. On the other hand, the people who send 20 bucks to their candidate of choice likely wouldn't be deterred from continuing to do so, because it would only raise their taxes by 20 bucks. It would REALLY make the political system more reflective of the will of the people.

And for all the people who say that it would dramatically decrease political giving across the board, I say: 1) GOOD!, and 2) all the extra taxes the government collects from the tax on political donations would go directly into a fund designated for public funding of elections. Every candidate would get the exact same amount.

I REALLY like this idea. Thanks for coming up with it.

and free airwave time, and shorter campaign time.

Yes!! X 1000. K&R

...... if we tax the 1%, they will STILL have beaucoup money to be able to do what they want and live the way they do.

So tax 'em.

The 1% will never be taxed enough to eliminate their financial ability to bribe politicians.

They are the 1%.