Posted by David Lightman at 3:35 pm CST

WASHINGTON--Congress' leading reformers today proposed a dramatic revamping of the presidential campaign financing system, changes that would allow taxpayers to contribue $10, instead of the current $3, to help publicly fund White House bids.

The checkoff would be used to provide more money to the current public financing system--a system experts say is badly broken.

The current system, created after the Watergate scandals of the early 1970s, provides candidates with up to $45 million for their nominating campaign and at last $75 million for the general election. Candidates are then subject to strict spending limits.

And though the amounts are adjusted each election cycle, they are often regarded as too little to pay for the spiraling cost of campaigns. As a result, some candidates in 2000 and 2004, notably President Bush and Democratic 2004 nominee John F. Kerry, have chosen not to take the federal money.

By not doing so, they could raise and spend whatever they chose. This year, most major candidates are expected to follow the same path.

"The presidential public financing system as it stands today is too little, too late," said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., one of the reform's key sponsors. He was joined by others who helped enact the soft money ban years ago, Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., and Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wisc.

"Presidential campaigns and the way they are financed have changed drastically," Meehan said. "As we move toward 2008, it is already clear that major presidential candidates will choose to campaign without public financing for both the primary and general elections."

The reforms would not take effect until the 2012 election cycle. They include:

--Matching every dollar of up to $200 per contribution with $4 of federal money. Currently, candidates can get a government dollar for every $250 of person's aggregate contribution.

--Increase the spending limit for those who participate in the public financing system to $150 million, up from the current $45 million.

--If a candidate is running against a non-participant in the system, spending limits for participants would go up.

--Matching funds would be given to candidates beginning six months before the first primary or caucus, rather than the current Jan. 1 of the election year.