Romney: Scrap campaign finance laws

By Shannon Mccaffrey

Associated Press

Published: Monday, Jan. 16 2012 9:35 p.m. MST

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich talk at the end of the South Carolina Republican presidential candidate debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Monday, Jan. 16, 2012.

Charles Dharapak, Pool, Associated Press

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Summary

Mitt Romney says he'd like to scrap campaign finance laws that have given rise to a war of independent attack ads from political action committees. Romney said he'd instead like to allow candidates to accept unlimited donations and take responsibility for their own words.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Mitt Romney says he'd like to scrap campaign finance laws that have given rise to a war of independent attack ads from political action committees. Romney said he'd instead like to allow candidates to accept unlimited donations and take responsibility for their own words.

The comment came as Romney sparred with Newt Gingrich over inaccuracies in ads being bankrolled by super PACs.

Romney called the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law "a disaster." The law regulates campaign donations.

The former Massachusetts governor said the solution was to "let people make contributions they want to make to campaigns; let campaigns then take responsibility for their own words."

Gingrich has suggested he would also support unlimited donations to candidates so long as they had to report them the same day.

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