In complete obliviousness to the financial crisis preoccupying the markets, the media, and Congress, I signed on as a Public Campaign Action Fund “citizen cosponsor” of the Fair Elections Now Act, the House version of legislation that gives far less than $700 billion dollars of public money away to qualified congressional candidates who agree to forego private fundraising and abide by campaign spending limits, thereby eliminating obligations to monied special interests. This sort of “clean election” campaign finance reform legislation used to be supported by both presidential candidates, until, of course, they actually had to try to get elected.