Make public campaign financing mandatory

It seems to me that one of the most absurd propositions ever foisted onto the American people is that spending money to promote the election of a candidate is somehow a form of free speech. It may very well further empower the speech of those who can already be heard well enough, but it serves as shackles on the lips of those whose will is supposed to be represented by this government. It is impossible to reform the system of private contribution, because the system is anathema to the spirit of democracy, which is the concept of a government in which every citizen has an equivalent voice. It may require a constitutional amendment, and if so, the sooner we get to work on it, the better.