There's a young man, David Sirota [Northwestern Grad and all] who has written a book, "Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government - and How We Take It Back." His comments are recorded in the Student Paper, The NU Daily.

In it he claims to have seen the evils of big money and how it controls government, etc. etc. etc.

Sounds a bit like John McCain when he rammed his attack on the First Amendment thru, but I digress.

Sirota, a Poly Sci and Journalism major was in an unique position to see all the corruption that money brings to politics; he was a staffer on various Democratic Party campaign committees, and even was the spokesman for the Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee. Yup, he's seen just how much money corrupts because he was smack dab in the middle of the process.

Don't forget that almost all of the "big money" in American Politics flows to the Democrat side of the ledger. A couple of left leaning big money guys, some not even born here, spend millions trying to advance their socialist agenda in the U.S.

They always talk about how we live in a Democracy. Uhhh, guys The United States of America is a
Representative Republic.

They conveniently forget that our present President was elected with thousands of small donations to his campaign, not the millions bled from the taxpayers, or spent by the outside groups in the attempt to foist Algore and Kerry on us.

I keep hearing the "climate of corruption" charge waved about. But what about that congressman from New Orleans, Jefferson? Wasn't that corruption when he took all that money?

The Democrats right in Northwestern's back yard, Chicago are legendary for corruption, so was Tamany Hall, the regular Democrat organization in New York.

So Sirota's solution?

Publicly finance campaigns - the old Democrat Party mantra. Give the Democratic Pols the key to the public purse and let Socialism reign.

Sirota's quoted as saying, "Big money interests use campaign cash to get what they want," he said. "If you want to restore democracy, you have got to attack that problem."

I'd rather restore the First Amendment to the Constitution, and let anyone give as much as they want.

Just report  where the money came from openly, by name and organization. Then our electorate, who maybe will be able to read by then, would know that the really big bucks flow from a few misguided socialist rich to the folks who want to overturn the Republic that is the U.S. of A.

What did Franklin say? "You have a republic madam, if you can keep it."

Folks like Sirota represent the guys who want to take the Republic away.