In Turnabout President Obama Defends Presidential Election Fund

The House passed a bill a few weeks ago to end the public financing of Presidential campaigns. However, as the new Republican majority is finding with many of its other bills the likelihood of it actually passing into law is slim. The Democrat controlled Senate is not likely to pass it and President Obama has publicly stated that he will veto the bill if he has to. He called on Congress to fix the Presidential Election Fund rather than dismantle it. This is somewhat of a change of stance for President Obama since in 2008 he was the first major Presidential candidate not to use the system. Then he called it broken. His stance is still that the system needs serious reforms, but he seems more supportive that the fund should exist. Representative Pelosi has taken a much stronger stance against the bill, highlighting how getting rid of the Presidential Election Fund will allow special interests, large donors, and foreign entities to have even more clout in Presidential elections. It likely doesn't matter though because only ten out of 193 Democrats in the House voted for the bill and for it to pass in the senate they will need a minimum of four to pass it and thirteen to avoid a filibuster out of 53 Democrats. For now the Presidential Election Fund is safe. Read the full story here.

-Samantha Powell