Executive Compensation Pt. 2: Big Money in Politics

Oh yeah, the point I had wanted to make (it's busy around here today!) is that the government is going to keep making decisions that are better for business than for me, as long as businesses give government more campaign money. And politicians can't afford to turn it down because they buy expensive TV and radio time for their ads.

A 30-second spot is, clearly, the absolute worst medium to communicate a candidate's positions. In fact, it's barely adequate as a medium for trashing your opponent. I'm a free-speech advocate BUT it would solve a lot of our nation's problems if we banned TV and radio from accepting political ads. The only groups that would truly suffer are ad agencies and broadcasters, and for the sake of the nation we oughtta throw them under the bus.

It wouldn't limit free speech because there are plenty of alternatives, such as publishing and the internet, which are available to all candidates. But what it might do is put less emphasis on telegenics in politics, and more on message. It would likely also reduce voter turnout but I'm not sure that more badly-informed people voting is such a worthwhile goal. Let 'em stick to American Idol for their voting needs.