New York's is a relatively unregulated campaign finance system and while efforts to quell big money's influence and move towards public financing of campaigns are moving forward in New York City, when it comes to who heads to the statehouse in Albany, the traditional money tree is still being shaken. This article in the Uttica Observer-Dispatch explains why, even with the economy going sour, campaign raising and spending will keep going up.At the end of the article, Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group reminds us where all that money is coming from: “Campaign spending defies the law of economic gravity — it’s always going up,” he said. The finance system is important because it’s the way the public knows who is funding the candidates running for office, he said. However, a new limit system must be put into place in order to create a level playing field for challengers for incumbent seats, he said. “You have to be a billionaire or friends with billionaires to raise the necessary capital to run a real race,” he said. “The old saying that ‘money is the mother’s milk of politics’ — there’s a reason why its an old saying — it’s largely true.” Horner’s group thinks candidates should be relying on public donations and not a private donation system, which give challengers an unfair advantage. “It’s extremely difficult. It’s a nearly vertical climb for challengers,” he said. “The incumbents are very good at raising money. It’s pretty blatant what goes on in Albany. If you’re holding fundraisers in Albany and you’re from Utica or Rome — you’re not expecting your constituents to come.”