As GOP Governors Raise Money, Romney Raps Current System
       As GOP governors from around the country gathered in Boston Monday to raise what they hope will be hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Republican Governors Association, Gov. Mitt Romney told reporters he doesn’t agree with current campaign finance laws and would rather a system where donors can contribute what they want so long as they report it.
       Responding to a reporter’s question about the political influence big donors wield, Romney said large contributors do gain access, but said it’s all part of a system he disagrees with. “I don’t like the system the way we have it,” he said. “I’d far rather have a system where people contribute what they may and disclose exactly the amount that they contributed.”
       Romney also said he objects to so-called 527s, organizations established to raise money for political activities including voter mobilization efforts, issue advocacy and the like. They’re not subject to campaign finance laws, and are allowed to collect unlimited “soft money” not directly raised for any one candidate. “We are right now, I believe, a 527 and we’re able to raise money as the Republican Governors Association, which most of us as governors couldn’t raise in our own races,” Romney said. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Our laws, I think, are still very much in flux and have not been nailed down in a way to prevent abuse. This last presidential campaign, where you have these uncoordinated, supposedly uncoordinated, campaigns spending massive, tens of millions of dollars in the presidential race. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”