‘The
closest thing to eternal life is a government program,” Ronald Reagan
once said. I suspect that today he might single out the $136 million in
taxpayer subsidies that go to the two major parties for their national
conventions. Established in the 1970s when people thought conventions
might still decide something, the subsidies keep flowing and are even
indexed for inflation. They now amount to welfare for corporate and
union interests and the political class — providing the infrastructure
for wheeling, dealing, and frolicking.
Few people suggest that the parties should abandon conventions
completely, but the subsidies prop up an archaic structure that needs
retooling.“Some pundits lament the demise of the old conventions,” writes Michael Barone, co-author of The Almanac of American Politics. “But they couldn’t be revived without banning long-distance telephone, the Internet, and jet travel.”
‘The
closest thing to eternal life is a government program,” Ronald Reagan
once said. I suspect that today he might single out the $136 million in
taxpayer subsidies that go to the two major parties for their national
conventions. Established in the 1970s when people thought conventions
might still decide something, the subsidies keep flowing and are even
indexed for inflation. They now amount to welfare for corporate and
union interests and the political class — providing the infrastructure
for wheeling, dealing, and frolicking.
Few people suggest that the parties should abandon conventions
completely, but the subsidies prop up an archaic structure that needs
retooling.“Some pundits lament the demise of the old conventions,” writes Michael Barone, co-author of The Almanac of American Politics. “But they couldn’t be revived without banning long-distance telephone, the Internet, and jet travel.”
Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/315729/dinosaur-conventions-john-fund
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