Sam Gejdenson: “we are close to July 4, and it was not that long ago the President asked us to come to the Congress with a campaign…”

“we are close to July 4, and it was not that long ago the President asked us to come to the Congress with a campaign finance reform bill that we would vote on by July 4, get it through the House, the Senate, and bring it to the President's desk. There has been virtually no action on campaign finance reform. I think I know the reason. There is a fundamental difference between the majority of the Republicans and the majority of the Democrats. Enunciated by the Speaker, Speaker Gingrich says, ``One of the greatest myths of modern politics is that campaigns are too expensive. The political process in fact is underfunded, it is not overfunded.'' Now, it is interesting because my colleague, the Speaker in particular, seems to say in almost every other category that there is too much money. If it is feeding children, he says there is too much money. We cannot throw money at the problem. If it is education, he does not want to throw money at the problem. But when it comes to campaigns, he thinks there is not enough money. I find it very hard to grasp this concept. And if we take a look at what has happened here, things like low-income energy assistance has been cut by 50 percent since 1978. We have had community development banks have gone up 27 percent. Maternal and child health block grants have gone up 91 percent from 1978. Congressional campaigns have gone up 294 percent. It does not indicate a shortage of cash.”