Political parties putting on the hard sell

Is it just me, or do politicians seem like televangelists these days?

I'm starting to regret subscribing to the websites of various parties. Everyday my Inbox has more appeals for donations.

Auto donation

Chretien had the perfect idea: automatic donations. This meant $2 of your yearly taxes would go to the political party you voted for — not a tax burden by any stretch of the imagination.

But currently taxpayers are forced to subsidize other people's political donations to the tune of 75%. That means for every dollar the Cons spend on disgusting, slanderous attack ads, Canadians are forking over three.

Harper

Is it any surprise Harper killed the auto-donation, absurdly claiming the $2 donation was an abuse of taxpayer dollars? Yet he thinks the 75% subsidy — which forces you to fund someone else's choice — is perfectly fine.

A more democratic solution would be to kill the 75% subsidy and double the auto-donation.

We could also upgrade our voting system — like 91% of developed countries — to prevent corrupt politicians from gerrymandering the donation system.