Why Not Tax Campaign Funds?

We all deride the corrupting influence of money on politics. We hate the idea of raising taxes on income or real estate. So here's an idea that might actually help our financially strapped schools and pension funds. It's a new tax, but one that everyone except politicians should love. t is time to start taxing campaign warchests.

The idea would be to tax political campaigns both a percentage of the money they raise each year, and a percentage of the money that sits unused in campaign warchests at the end of each year.

How would it work? Let's say there's a 5% tax on all political money raised every year, and a separate 5%  tax on all money unspent at the end of the year. Candidate A, running for Mayor of Allentown, raises $120,000. His campaign would be required to pay 5%, or $6,000, into Harrisburg.

Let's say that, at the end of the year, the warchest has $100,000 because only $20,000 was spent. A 5% tax on that would mean another $5,000.

Here's a good example. State Rep. Michael Schlossberg raised $47,135 last year even though he had no opponent. That gives him a nice little slush fund to spend. A 5% tax on the money he raised would raise $2,356.75 for his impoverished constituents. He ended 2014 with $39,191.15 in his warchest. A 5% tax on that would mean yet another $1,959.56 for the public weal.

This kind of tax will also deter incumbents from raising huge sums of money, year after year, so they can become more entrenched.