Campaign Finance

In a moment of insomnia, I solved the problem of campaign finance reform. Apply a very progressive tax to recipients of political donations. The first $1 million raised by a candidate or a party would be tax-free. The second million would have a 5% tax and so on. This rate would top out at 70% after $14 million. To make the plan even more attractive, all campaign contributions would be deductible from the donor’s taxable income. Right now, when someone in the 35% bracket gives Gov. George W. Bush $10,000, it costs him or her more than $15,000 of gross income. The government gets more than $5,000 before the donation.

With the Hagan plan, the same donation would only cost the donor $10,000 of gross income, but the government would get $7,000 after the donation, if the top rate applied. The actual cost of enforcing this tax would be minimal compared to current and proposed campaign finance regulations. Applying this program would transform the federal budget. Tax rates could be lowered, Medicare benefits raised, schools fully funded, etc.

DAVID HAGAN

Grover Beach