White House opposes bid to end public funding

Even after President Obama completely opted out of public financing in the 2008 presidential election, the White House opposes a Republican-backed bill that would end the system.

Eliminating it, the White House said, would “force many candidates into an endless cycle of fundraising at the expense of engagement with voters on the issues” the Washington Post reported.

The bill would suspend the program that allows voters to donate $3 to the presidential campaign fund. According to Politico, Republicans claim ending the program would save approximately $617 million over 10 years.

The bill would suspend a program started in 1976 that gives voters an option to direct $3 to the presidential campaign fund . The donations don’t reduce a taxpayer’s tax refund. Eliminating the program would save about $617 million over 10 years, Republicans say.

The system is short on money though, with only 7.3 percent of Americans volunteered to donated to the fund in 2010, down from 1980’s high of 28.7 percent.

The Presidential Election Campaign Fund “is the very definition of frivolous Washington spending,” Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole said, and “it’s not a good sign that the Democrats are squealing about cutting a program only 7 percent of Americans support.”