James Romoser of the Winston-Salem Journal runs the numbers on fundraising totals for incumbents versus challengers. He cites Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) specifically for taking in 77 times more money from PACs than her challenger. Incumbency re-elections stats are incredibly high, in part because of the enormous fundraising advantage of incumbents.Romoser talks with Bob Hall of Democracy North Carolina which is the lead state organization moving legislation forward to expand the state's public financing program to include more races. Hall had this to offer on the responsibilities among voters for dealing with the ties between fundraising and entrenched incumbency: “The price is being bid up for serving in Congress, and the cost of running for elections is far outstripping inflation [. . .] We know the price is going up, and this is really absurd.[. . .]“Politics are going to be skewed to favor the special-interest donors, and it’s just going to get worse if we the public don’t take more responsibility,” Hall said.“I don’t think it’s a matter of blaming the politicians alone; I think we have to take more responsibility for insisting that an alternative be put in place.” Foxx said she's against Clean Elections-style public financing of campaigns. Meanwhile, she's gearing up for what promises to be another expensive campaign and the article concludes on a note that indicates a certain...skepticism...about how well the needs of fundraising and the principles of representational democracy will be balanced if the fundraising chase goes on:Last month, Foxx sent out a message to supporters asking for donations and noting that the Democrats had already solicited someone to run against her.Roy Carter, a Democrat from Ashe County, has said he intends to run against Foxx next year.In her message to supporters, Foxx offered a gift of a “We, the People” calendar in exchange for campaign donations of $100 or more.