On September 8, Hillary Clinton released these recommendations for campaign finance law changes. She favors public funding for candidates for federal office.

The statement does not acknowledge that the U.S. already has public funding for presidential candidates. The statement seems to hint that it is too easy now for candidates to get primary season matching funds. The statement says, “Qualifying contribution thresholds. To qualify for matching funds, candidates must first demonstrate that they have sufficient public support for a viable campaign by raising a minimum number of small donations from their constituents.”

Current law says candidates qualify for primary season matching funds by raising at least $5,000 in small donations in each of at least twenty states.

Baroness Ros Altmann, a member of the British House of Lords and a minister in the Conservative government, was recently exposed as someone who had joined the Labour Party last year. All dues-paying members of the Labour Party received a postal ballot to vote on who the Labour Party leader should be. In Britain, party leaders become Prime Minister if that party wins the election.

The Labour Party combed through its membership list last month and expelled persons who are active members of other parties, but the process missed Baroness Altmann. See this story. She received a ballot, but the story does not say if she used that ballot. The votes are being counted now and the winner’s identity will be announced this week.

The New York Times of September 8 has this front-page story about the Mississippi Democratic Party’s nominee for Governor, Robert Gray. Gray won this year’s primary even though he did not campaign and his two primary opponents did campaign. The story suggests that the Democratic primary outcome was caused by Republicans voting in the Democratic primary. Mississippi has an open primary.