Supreme Court Raises Questions About Ariz. Law’s Extra Cash For Publicly Funded Candidates

[Purveyor]

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court appeared poised Monday to strike down a provision of a campaign financing system in Arizona that gives extra cash to publicly funded candidates who face privately funded rivals and independent groups.

Such a decision would be another blow to public campaign financing, once thought of as an antidote to the corrupting influence of money in politics. President Barack Obama has been the most prominent example of politicians who have abandoned public financing because they can raise far more money privately.

The justices heard arguments in a challenge to the Arizona system that gives candidates who opt for public financing up to two times their base amount when they’re outspent by privately funded rivals or targeted by independent group spending.

The court’s conservative-leaning justices, who have issued a string of decisions upending campaign finance laws in the past five years, appeared skeptical of the Arizona law because it, in their view, is designed to level the playing field for all candidates. The court has said such leveling often runs afoul of the First Amendment.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/supreme-court-raises-questions-about-ariz-laws-extra-cash-for-publicly-funded-candidates/2011/03/28/AFoI5hoB_story.html

[sakabatou]

1. Aw, fuckity-fuck