EclectEcon

Every campaign finance case is opportunity for libertarians to
“stand above it all” and sigh with disappointment (disgust?). All sides
in the debate seem to agree on one thing: The whole point of the
exercise is to combat corruption in politics. Fair enough, and noble
enough.

But it is the libertarians, and only the libertarians, who ask the precedent question of why
we have so much corruption in politics. The answer is simple: Because
government does so much that invites corruption, that caters to
corruption and that perpetuates corruption. Things that have nothing to
do with the core functions of government — the functions that the
Framers did, and most people today do, associate with a free society.
Things that are explicitly designed to benefit, not everyone equally or
equitably, but some at the expense of others. From earmarks to tax
breaks, from nanny statism to nanny subsidies, from oil wells to oil
wars.

If the politicians didn’t do so much that they were never meant to do, then no one would try to buy them. That would be the best “campaign finance reform” of all.