Here’s an interesting idea.  Instead of allowing political candidates to donate money to each other from their campaign funds, why make them put unused funds toward paying down the debt?

That’s an idea put forward by Robert Schmuhl at Politics Daily.  He says there’s a lot of money floating around politics that doesn’t need to be there.

Is it hopelessly idealistic and electorally romantic to wonder why the Federal Election Commission allows one politician to raise so much money for the sake of another? A check of the FEC's campaign laws spells out in black-and-white that these contributions are permissible. 



But what if new, reform-styled regulations restricted the money raised by a federal candidate or a candidate's PAC to that candidate's own use during the specific election cycle? The rule could apply to candidates running for president, the Senate or the House. Any money not spent during the candidate's actual, time-defined campaign would go directly to the federal treasury to pay down the debt. 



This modest proposal would help control the amount of money raised and spent on campaigns, diminish the influence one politician exerts over another -- and help reduce what the government owes. 

Mitt Romney has raised nearly $6 million and has given away more than $320,000 on GOP races in nearly every state.  Sarah Pailin has donated $137,500 to other campaigns. 

Schmuhl says Making candidates give away money left over at the end of a campaign to the government would put more emphasis on governing and less on campaigning.