On March 22, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Il.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) introduced S936. It is called the “Fair Elections Now Act.” It provides for public funding for congressional candidates. It supposedly is modeled on the Maine and Arizona “Clean Elections” Laws. However, unlike the Maine and Arizona laws, S936 discriminates in favor of Democratic and Republican candidates, and against all others. If one is a Democrat or Republican, one only needs 2/3rds as many qualifying $5 contributions to qualify for public funding as all others need.

It is difficult to understand how Durbin and Specter can include such a provision, when the voters elected two independents to the U.S. Senate last November.