response 28 of 55:

Nov 8 21:14 UTC 2003

Its official today:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a historic move, Democratic presidential hopeful 
Howard Dean announced Saturday he is skipping public financing and the 
spending limits that come with it, hoping his money-raising power can 
help win the nomination and unseat President Bush. 

The 2004 race is the first time that candidates from both major parties 
will forgo the Watergate-era public financing system. Bush also is 
opting out, as he did in the 2000 Republican primaries and raised a 
record $100-plus million. 

Dean made his decision based on a high-tech tally of 600,000 
supporters, whom he asked to vote by e-mail, Internet, telephone or 
regular mail through Friday. 

He announced the results at noon EST in Burlington, Vermont. Campaign 
officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said about 85 percent of 
the 105,000 supporters who weighed in urged the former Vermont governor 
to opt out. He becomes the first candidate in Democratic Party history 
to take such a step. 

At least two Democratic rivals -- Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and 
retired Gen. Wesley Clark -- also have been considering opting out. 

Like Bush in his primaries, Dean now can spend unlimited amounts on his 
campaign for the nomination and, if successful, through the summer 
before the general election season starts. 

Candidates who accept public dollars in the primaries can get up to 
$18.7 million in taxpayer money but are limited to about $45 million in 
spending. 

A campaign official said Dean has no plans to limit his spending 
through the primaries to that threshold, as some campaign finance 
watchdogs have urged. 

Lucrative Web donations
Dean was the first 2004 hopeful to qualify for the government money. He 
told The Associated Press last March that he was committed to taking 
it, in part because he believed in campaign finance reform. 

He began to rethink that plan over the summer after his campaign saw an 
unprecedented flood of contributions over the Internet. 

In the latest three months of fund raising, through September, Dean 
raised nearly $5 million over his Web site in just over a week, 
astounding his rivals with a record $14.8 million for the time period. 

Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe has urged his 
party's candidates to seriously consider turning away the government 
money, arguing that Bush removed it as a campaign issue when he did so 
in 2000 with no public outcry. 

McAuliffe and other Democratic strategists have worried that public 
financing's strict spending limit would leave their nominee low on cash 
after several bruising primaries. Bush, facing no GOP opponent, would 
have tens of millions left to spend next spring and summer. Bush 
already is closing in on $100 million since starting to raise money in 
May. 

The new campaign finance law also doubled the individual contribution 
limit to $2,000. That makes the government match of up to $250 for each 
donation less attractive. 

The program was created after Watergate to try to try to reduce 
presidential candidates' reliance on big donors. Congress has done 
little to it since, and even the system's supporters say it has failed 
to keep pace with the cost of campaigns. 

The system is financed by taxpayers who check a box on their tax 
returns to direct $3 to the program. Though marking the box doesn't 
increase their tax bills, only about one in 11 taxpayers do so, leaving 
the program short on cash when candidates get their first payments in 
January of the election year. 

Dean, with about $25 million raised through September, will need a 
continued flood of contributions to make up for the $18.9 million in 
government money he's turning away. 

No major-party candidate has ever skipped public financing in the 
general election, in part because that money covers a much shorter 
period. The nominees selected at the Democratic and GOP conventions 
next summer will each be eligible for about $74 million in full 
government dollars for the November 2 election. 

response 30 of 55:

Nov 9 02:00 UTC 2003

No, they don't, last I heard.  Campaign contributions can only be used for
campaign expenses.

Of course, travel, meals and lodging are legitimate campaign expenses.

response 32 of 55:

Nov 9 13:40 UTC 2003

Klg, do tell... what false premise?  You made a goofy comparison, I made an
equally goofy comparison.  Is the false premise failing to toe the Republican
party line, perhaps?

response 34 of 55:

Nov 10 13:36 UTC 2003

klg punts!

response 36 of 55:

Nov 10 18:02 UTC 2003

Nope, klg lost and desperate to save face.

Here's a hint:  Leeron at least writes his own 1500+ word essays before
demanding same from others.  

response 38 of 55:

Nov 10 20:04 UTC 2003

Re #31: You know, there are a lot of sound bites from conservative U.S.
politicians about how bad the Canadian health care system is.  But I've
never met a Canadian who expressed a desire for a copy of the American
system in their country.

response 40 of 55:

Nov 11 10:03 UTC 2003

of course .. along with te poast office workers ..same plan options.
  
adn civil service retirement (not evicerated like SS) too!
 
go sell stamps!
,

response 42 of 55:

Nov 14 08:02 UTC 2003

oh? but dean jsut got *tw0 of them* to endorse his over-reach!
  
as for welfare-healthcare .. *local* control. werkx that way. 
nationalizing the mdical profession is teh death health care as we know it.
  
but then, hillary wouldn't ahve it any other way .. in 2009+
  
is there a medical/doctors PAC  (or is it the trial lawyers??? by a 
different name????)

response 46 of 55:

Nov 18 06:27 UTC 2003

re #43 ... ans what is 'adverse selection'?
  

response 48 of 55:

Nov 18 15:00 UTC 2003

(To relate this to #43 -- let's say Indiana decides to offer a really
great single-payer insurance plan.  Since people can move pretty freely
between states, it's highly likely that all the sickest people from
Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin will move to Indiana and bankrupt their plan.)