Should Congress regulate political ad money?

The Christian Science Monitor has dueling op-eds. Public Citizen's Craig Holman argues that transparency of money is the cornerstone of free and fair elections. Transparency is the bedrock against special interests trying to buy favors from officeholders. It allows the public to monitor whether official favors and privileges are being doled out to those paying for campaign ads.

David Bossie of Citizens United counters that in Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court recognized that "the right of citizens to inquire, to hear, to speak, and to use information to reach consensus is a precondition to enlightened self-government and a necessary means to protect it." Our campaign-finance laws should be revised so that Americans can freely exercise this right. Some practical, yet meaningful, reforms might include raising or eliminating individual contribution limits to candidates, political committees, and political parties as well as raising reporting thresholds to reduce the burdens on exercising this fundamental right.