I WISH I COULD HAVE GIVEN IT 500 STARS! READ IT! THAT'S MY ORDER! Man I love this book!

This book changing my way of thinking 180 degrees. I was a huge John McCain and Campaign Finance Reform fan, but I read this book just to see what the other side had to say. I am sure glad I did! Smith points out many problems with alleged reform on mulitple levels. If you are interested in campaign finance reform, however you may feel about the subject, I suggest you read this book.

As the best known critic of campaign finance reform, Bradley Smith makes strong arguments not just against the legislation itself but against the philosophy underlying the entire movement. This is important, because many supporters of reform refuse to acknowledge that any case against their rationale exists. Many critiques of campaign finance legislation focus on proving that not nearly as much money is spent on campaigning as the public has been led to believe, or that the proposed legislation would give certain types of grassroots groups an unfair advantage over others. Smith's attack goes much further than that. He demonstrates why, in the long run, strict regulation of campaigns will harm everyone by crippling their ability to channel their talents into meaningful participation in the political process.

The first half of the book serves as a comprehensive survey of arguments brought against reform. He begins by analyzing why the proposed legislation would give incumbents enormous advantages over challengers. From there, he discusses how the term corruption has been expanded to mean anything that a legislator does to respond to the wishes of constituents who helped contribute to her campaign-whether or not a causal link can be established between particular contributions and particular legislation. He concludes it with a section on how limits placed on monetary expenditures made to pay for speech are, in fact, limits placed on speech itself because the expenditure of money to pay for speech is inextricably linked to speech itself.

In the second half, he deconstructs philosophical arguments used to justify reforms and turns them on their heads. He starts by pointing out that supporters of reform typically ignore the fact that most non-monetary means of influencing politicians are not distributed on an egalitarian basis. Thus, simply removing private contributions from our political system will not make everyone equal overnight. He develops this point by discussing the traditional notion of political equality-that "...Citizens are free to use their differing abilities, financial wherewithal, and personal disposition to become more or less active in political life, and to attempt to persuade their fellow citizens to vote in a particular manner." He points out that campaign finance reform is nothing more than an attempt to narrow the pool of individuals afforded this freedom.

He concludes by hammering this point home: "...Because the First Amendment...makes no distinction between the different types of political influence, it allows a maximum number of voters to participate and helps to prevent any one faction or interest from gaining the upper hand in political debate." This Madisonian indictment of the campaign finance movement goes above and beyond merely attacking various legislative proposals as incumbent protection schemes. It cuts through all the political rhetoric and reveals what campaign finance reform really is: an attempt by a coalition of elite groups to cast the rules of political debate on their own terms.

If you're concerned about free speech, read this book. You won't be disappointed.

This is a great dictionary, full of thorough definitions, slang usages and idioms, an invaluable tool for anyone learning or translating Spanish!

I have used this book in my Environmental Biology classes at Stanly Community College. It is well written, but at a reading level not beyond that of most high school graduates. It covers basic knowledge and current environmental problems. I really enjoy the Global Perspective sections. I highly recommend this book as a beginning environmental science book.

This book is a fascinating exspose of Heinrich Himmlers
youth. Padfeilds biography
shows Himmler to be Nationalist orientated from an early age and, at times, pedantic but in this book Smith gives a much sharper picture of Himmler as a young man. From his busy-body tendancies to his sexual insecurity, this book really brings the future Reichsfuehrer-SS to life. To those that are looking for demonisation of himmler, look elsewhere. The main point that comes across from this book is how "normal" he really was. A must for all those interested in the history of the Third Reich.

This is a fantastic book on the art of consulting. As a previous partner of McKinsey, I took a lot away from this book that took me 20 years to learn previously. I highly recommend this book to every level consultant, doing any type of consulting.

A hardcover with over 290 some pages full of artwork. From the bells found in tombs to more modern prints done in the early 20th century, this book is a must for either art lovers or lovers of Japan or both! The book not only shows you how the art changed, but how the lives of the Japanese people changed. Their ways of life ANd their beliefs. See prints and paintings and statues of street scenes and nobles and visions of hell. You can't get a better book and there are used ones for sale! BUY IT!

This is the most comprehensive, yet easy to understand book on multivariable calculus I have ever seen. It's packed with lots of tips, examples, explanations and graphs. It even includes "how to"'s on multivariable applications using the TI-92. These authors really know how to teach.

Usually programmers get lost in parallel computing theory book, and researchers don't know how to teach their theory in reality.
So here is the perfect sample for one stone two birds on this subject. Basically it is book of PVM source code in C with commentary, very detail, very hands-on education.
The book is less than 400pp, souce code takes about 100pp, commentary takes about 100pp, another 200pp for background and theory.
If you have very strong coding experience and want to know some parallel programming, this book definitely is designed for you. Btw, source code is available on web.

i need the book cntain every thing about organic chemistey and broplem and its solvent

After comparing almost every Spanish/English "unabridged" or reference dictionary available, this is no doubt the best, most comprehensive, useful and well organized that I have seen. Every serious student of spanish should have one.

This 5th Edition beats the Oxford Spanish Dictionary. It is more comprehensive and polished. Collins has gone in the right direction with an expansion of coverage of science, technology, and business terms. But, there is still tremendous room for improvement in a dictionary that is supposed to be unabridged.

This edition of "HarperCollins Spanish Dictionary" will be treasured by anyone who understands the meaning of quality and value. The book is well-edited, well-organized, ultra-portable, and inexpensive.
With its generous translations, which spanned through several thousands of headwords, there is nothing which should be included in it that was excluded. From idioms to phrases; acronyms to slangs; every entry was accurately translated. As well, there is comprehensive analyses of all the Spanish irregular verbs, which it handled.
The give-away price of this dictionary means that it is affordable to anybody who needs it. It is a priceless companion: an accurate gem, which I would recommend for both students and travellers.