Bob Bernick Jr. acknowledges he feels like he's going out on a limb with this editorial in support of full public financing campaign. Bernick is writing in Utah's Deseret News, a paper that has covered its share of money in politics/lobbyists/corruption stories so this seems like a logical progression in their exploration of the topic, but Bernick has dim hopes about support in the state, and in Congress, for public financing.

How comfortable are you with the idea that the metric by which we determine how nuclear waste is disposed of could be campaign contributions? A Utah-based company seeking a contract to import nuclear waste for processing at their facility is throwing money at key members of Congress in an effort to advance their interests, over the objections of environmental groups.

It appears that not running for re-election is a lucrative side business for Utah state legislators. That is, even in a year when they're not running for office they're collecting hundreds of thousands in campaign contributions from the usual special interest suspects and converting it for personal use all the while denying that financing your lifestyle with money from pharmaceutical companies in any way influences your decisions as a lawmaker.