Brad Smith has this oped in the Wash. Times, tying earmark reform with public financing for presidential candidates: “It’s hard to imagine an earmark of less value than the presidential campaign fund. Over the years the presidential fund has paid for balloon drops at the national nominating conventions, and for negative TV ads. It has paid several million to support two presidential runs by Lenora Fulani of the now-defunct New Alliance Party, who last year said Jews ‘do the dirtiest work of capitalism, to function as mass murderers of people of color.’ It also funded three presidential runs by John Hagelin of the now-defunct Natural Law Party, which based its platform on a call for more transcendental meditation. Lyndon LaRouche, convicted of mail fraud in 1988, has received millions in federal tax dollars for eight runs for president, one of them conducted from federal prison.”