(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY JIM FLINK

No more checking the box on your tax form? By a vote of 235 - 190, the U.S. House of Representatives cleared a bill that will end taxpayer financing of presidential campaigns. Y’know.  That $3 box on your income tax form?

The Washington Post notes the bill dismantles a system put in place after Watergate in the 1970s. And says, The White House opposes the bill because it believes the bill would expand power of special interests and elections.

“President Barack Obama eschewed public funds when he was running for president, but the White House opposes the bill, saying it would expand the power of special interests in elections.”

Politico notes, the Office of Management and Budget -- or OMB -- has similar concerns. Turning politics increasingly into a machine that works on elections -- more than government.

“The bill would force many candidates into an endless cycle of fundraising at the expense of engagement with voters on the issues and would place a premium on access to large-donor or special-interest support, narrowing the field of otherwise worthy candidates."

The Huffington Post notes, the vote was along party lines, with just one Republican opposed.
Republicans couched the bill as a "no-brainer" for reducing the deficit.

If passed into law, the bill would save $500 million over five years, with $200 million going immediately to deficit reduction.

“But Democrats balked at the idea of getting rid of either program and suggested Republicans were carelessly casting aside protections against voter suppression. Instead, Democrats argued that Congress should be strengthening the commission and doing more to support, not hamper, public financing when it comes to presidential elections.”