Obama is just too funny: the public financing of campaigns joke

Senator Obama promised last fall that he would take public financing for his presidential campaign if the Republican nominee did so also. McCain promises that he will. So what is Obama's response? He defines public financing as occurring when you raise money from the public, not as taking campaign money from the government. Here is the WSJ's editorial on this:

Barack Obama declared this week that he has created a "parallel public financing system." Come again? Let him explain: Under parallel public financing, "the American people decide if they want to support a campaign, they can get on the Internet and finance it."

Up to this moment, "public" financing has meant taking money from the federal government for the general Presidential election. Senator Obama's new system is public, because "the public" sends him the money. . . .

From the Washington Post:

But those with wealth and power also have played a critical role in creating Obama's record-breaking fundraising machine, and their generosity has earned them a prominent voice in shaping his campaign. Seventy-nine "bundlers," five of them billionaires, have tapped their personal networks to raise at least $200,000 each. They have helped the campaign recruit more than 27,000 donors to write checks for $2,300, the maximum allowed. Donors who have given more than $200 account for about half of Obama's total haul, which stands at nearly $240 million. . . .