Babs’ flawed argument against campaign funding

But to briefly address her displeasure with the Supreme Court’s decision, I would observe that for a woman who has made a significant sum of money working under the protective umbrella of the First Amendment, she seems to have little regard for free speech. Citizens United v. FEC allowed those people who can only afford a $20 donation to band together in groups such as the one that I run and speak out in a way that Ms. Streisand’s wealth allows her to speak out. Her apparent desire to limit the ability of my donors to speak out (our average gift is somewhere around $50) is an unconscionable attempt to silence those who do not have her means.

Ms. Streisand’s column called for an end to “special interest politics”—perhaps a noble goal. But how does forcing challenger candidates, who would hold entrenched incumbents’ feet to the fire, to spend exorbitant amounts of time and effort to raise funds a few dollars at a time achieve that end? Ms. Streisand’s neighbors may be able to hand out $100 bills without thinking, but finding 1,500 such people in Mineral County, W.Va., is far more difficult. In Ms. Streisand’s desired scenario, incumbent politicians would only become more entrenched and citizens with only $25 or $50 to give would be silenced. If we truly want competitive political campaigns and an end to the 90 percent-plus incumbent re-election rate in this country, we should take the shackles off of citizens who wish to run for public office or participate in the election process, not restrain them further.

David N. Bossie is the president of Citizens United and Citizens United Productions, and the executive producer of “Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous With Destiny.”