Letter: Public funding of campaigns needed

Kenneth C. Griffin, the chief executive of Citadel, a giant hedge fund, has contributed nearly $50 million for congressional Republicans in this midterm election cycle. Stephen A. Schwarzman, the chairman of Blackstone, another hedge fund, has contributed $20 million to Republicans. Democrats trail in high-level donors.

Most people make no political contributions and most of those who do contribute give $100 or less. This means that one or a few ultra-wealthy big donors can buy more political speech than millions of ordinary people, which is why they frequently get their way on tax policy, labor law and its enforcement, and trade deals. This helps them get richer while so many ordinary people struggle.

If participants in a candidate debate could purchase extra time, the debate would be considered rigged in their favor. When super-wealthy individuals and corporations can purchase vastly more political speech than ordinary people, the system is rigged in their favor.

Large contributions must be replaced by public funding of election campaigns if we want to end politicians' indebtedness to big donors and have government decisions based on merit and the public interest.

Richard Barsanti

Western Springs