Presidential Public Funding Fix Introduced

Roll Call has reported that Reps. Bob Ney (R-OH) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) have introduced legislation to establish a single date for presidential candidates to receive public funds for the general election. The date would be the Friday of Labor Day weekend.

This is in response to the grossly unfair situation that occurred in 2004, whereby John Kerry received his public funds five weeks before George Bush because the Democratic Convention was held first (and the Republicans set their convention date unusually late). As a result, Kerry had to spread the $74.6 million in public funds over almost 14 weeks, while Bush had just under 9 weeks in which to spend the same amount. Another way of putting it is that Kerry had roughly $5.5 million to spend per week whereas Bush had an average of $8.8 million per week.

This isn't sour grapes and it isn't a partisan issue. At some point, the Republican nominee is going to face the same situation.

The legislation is a no-brainer - call your member of Congress and tell him or her to support this TODAY!