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Good point.

New York has a law that provides for 4-1 public financing with strict total limits that are lifted if the opponent chooses not to abide by them. With that kind of matching you have to be willing to put in a hell of a lot of your own cash to seriously outspend a credible oppponent. Not sure if it's NYC or state. On the other hand I'm just cynical enough not to want to lay odds against the SC invalidating that kind of thing on a national level - they could find something, they've got the creativity.

by MarekNYC on Fri Aug 29th, 2008 at 05:50:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You could then have a showdown as during Roosevelt's administration, where the SC was threatened with being expanded to 13.  Or you could have an impeachment of John Roberts.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri Aug 29th, 2008 at 06:26:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
For an impeachment you'd need 67 votes. Given political realities, you'd need a good several more Dems than that, let's say 75 - in my dreams, maybe, in reality, unfortunately not. And I'm not sure I want to start putting court packing into the system. That's a double edged sword. In both cases to even consider making it work you need both the kind of overwhelming majority that FDR had at the time, and a consistent pattern of the Court striking down laws with strong public support.
by MarekNYC on Fri Aug 29th, 2008 at 08:08:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
If the Dems passed campaign finance reform along the lines of the NY system you described, if Obama pushed and sold it to the public, if then Congress passed and Obama signed bills that solved problems heretofore blocked by vested interest lobbyists and, after all of that, the SC struck down the laws or prevented them from being applied, you might have the kind of storm that would demand John Robert's impeachment.  

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri Aug 29th, 2008 at 11:23:38 PM EST
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