Stephen Colbert is Right to Lampoon Our Campaign Finance System (And So Can You!)

Abstract

This Article is an edited transcript of a presentation I gave at the University of St. Thomas Journal of Law & Public Policy’s symposium on Citizens United on March 30, 2012 (which will be published in that journal this fall). Building on the brilliant satire of the post-Citizens United, Super PAC world by Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, I argue that our current campaign-finance regime is indeed unworkable and unstable. We have now the odd situation whereby independent political speech is unbridled and unrestricted for the most part -- which is what the First Amendment demands -- while candidates and parties are heavily restricted and heavily regulated. But my end-game vision is different than the comedians': At some point, our system will crack under the weight of politicians' bristling at their competitive disadvantage, leading to individual contribution limits being raised or eliminated in exchange for greater disclosure for the really big donors.

Keywords: campaign finance, BCRA, McCain-Feingold, First Amendment, Citizens United, Super PACs, SpeechNow.org, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart