[Political Activity Law]

CQPolitics covers the conventions.

When it comes to paying for the Democratic and Republican national conventions, the lobbyists and corporate contributors seem to be getting all the headlines. But the American taxpayer is also footing a good chunk of the bill.As the nonprofit group Taxpayers for Common Sense reminds us, the public presidential campaign finance system will be underwriting a portion of the festivities in Colorado for the Democrats and in Minnesota for the Republicans.

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As a reward for their generosity, taxpayers might expect to be treated like well-heeled donors. But all they can really count on for their donations is two weeks of political speechifying in place of their favorite TV shows.

Don’t miss this Rolling Stone article on campaign finance developments.

For all the excitement that Barack Obama has garnered, and all the talk about a new day in Washington, it would be tragic if the real legacy of his election victory was to finally expose the essentially unchanging, oligarchic nature of our political system. It’s the same old story: Money talks, and [EXPLETIVE DELETED] walks. And don’t be surprised if we’re the ones still walking after November.

Hard to say what this means.  But this is a campaign finance blog for the whole family to enjoy, so expletives will be deleted.