Campaign finance laws need overhaul

Congress must modify our laws around political campaigns next year. The U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania this year cost more than any other campaign in the nation: $312 million. That is an obscene amount of money. Dr. Mehmet Oz “invested” $27 million in his own campaign, which is basically trying to buy a congressional seat. That money funded attack ads that often are based on misleading and/or partial information. The issues society faces are not addressable in 60-second sound bites. The attack ads don’t change people’s votes very often. The ads help candidates avoid discussing and contrasting their ideas to solve the problems we face. And we are bored by the hundreds of repeat ads we see daily during the peak of the campaigns.

We must limit the money spent by campaigns and PACs. We must see and compare the ideas and commitments of candidates to solve our problems. We need to understand the values of our candidates so we can choose candidates who will best serve our interests when the spotlight is