In the News
Texas Tribune: Freedom of speech survives a close call in Texas
Luke Wachob
Some may be inclined to shrug their shoulders and ask what the big deal is. It’s only disclosure, right?
The big deal is that disclosure chills speech about government, it is not a harmless or cost-free policy. Groups must expend significant financial resources and effort to comply with complex reporting requirements and risk fines or worse if they fail to dot their I’s and cross their T’s. Large organizations with lots of funding and expert legal staff may get along without issue, but small and volunteer-run groups will struggle or simply decide the speech is not worth the effort.
CCP
CCP’s External Relations Team Welcomes Brian Walsh as Research Fellow
Brian has always been passionate about defending individual rights and safeguarding civil liberties. He believes that free speech must be protected, in order to foster a more informed electorate.
As Brian explains, “while politicians claim to have the best of intentions when advocating schemes to further regulate political speech, their proposals routinely fail to achieve their lofty aims. Often, these initiatives are underscored by efforts to make elections ‘more fair,’ but instead only benefit those who already hold elected office.”
Brian is excited to join the Center, in which capacity he will conduct original research on the effects of campaign finance regulations and the need to protect and preserve the First Amendment right to free political speech.
Public Opinion
Washington Post: This chart seemingly proves how wrong I am about money in politics
Chris Cillizza
Let me first say this: I am often wrong. Let me second say this: This is not one of those times. Or at least not yet.
This is not your standard “what issue matters most to you” sort of question. Usually, those questions are either open-ended (meaning the poll respondent can offer up any answer) or provide the respondents a laundry list of potential choices — “economy”, “jobs”, “immigration”, “energy”, “national security” — from which to choose.
…What the Journal and NBC are trying to do with this question is NOT rank order how pressing campaign finance, the state of the economy or national security are for voters in 2016. Rather, the two organizations are testing a variety of looming narratives likely to play out in 2016 — from the amount of money in the political system to the effect of political dynasties to the overwhelming negativity of the campaign to come — to see which has the most resonance with voters.
Campaign Finance
New York Times: When Politicians Have to Return Money From the Wrong People
Derek Willis
Politicians like Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum and Rand Paul, who received contributions from the white supremacist Earl P. Holt III, can refuse money from the wrong people. But first they have to know it is there, and when alerted, they announced plans to give the money back or to charity. (Mr. Holt apparently influenced the views of the person accused of killing nine people in a church in Charleston, S.C., last week)…
In the rush to comply with other F.E.C. rules requiring that contributions be deposited within 10 days, few campaigns make it a priority to vet every donor, and the information supplied (name, address, employer and occupation) sometimes says little about a donor’s political toxicity. Even in cases in which a contributor gives more than the legal limit, most committees deposit the check and then figure out how to respond.
Politico: Pulling Up The Curtain On Dark Money
Eric Schneiderman
In the 1970s, public outrage over government contractors buying influence with a president led to groundbreaking reforms of the U.S. campaign finance system. That same sense of outrage should compel action today against the “dark money” tainting our elections. With a simple executive order today, President Barack Obama could end the secret payments from federal contractors seeking to sway our elections once and for all. Given the scale of the federal contracting universe, a move like that by Obama would go a long way, quickly, toward addressing one of the biggest modern threats to clean and fair elections.
Washington Post: Gyrocopter pilot says no plea deal if prosecutors insist on long prison term
Spencer S. Hsu
The Florida postal worker who landed a gyrocopter at the U.S. Capitol this spring said Monday that he opposes any plea deal with prosecutors that requires a prison term of “several years,” saying his actions were a “pure act of civil disobedience.”
Douglas Hughes, 61, of Ruskin, Fla., spoke outside the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington after a hearing in which the prosecution and defense said negotiations continue over his May indictment on six felony and misdemeanor charges. The charges are punishable by as many as 9 1/2 years in prison, and Hughes has pleaded not guilty.
Independent Groups
Campaign Finance Institute: Independent Spending after Citizens United Had Unpredicted Effects in Congressional Primaries (working paper)
Robert G Boatright, Michael J. Malbin, and Brendan Glavin
This paper examines how Citizens United affected the balance of power in among “outside” groups in congressional primaries through 2014. After the decision, critics predicted massive independent expenditures (IEs) by large corporations, while supporters saw it shifting the balance toward insurgent outsiders. While IEs were up, we expected and found neither of these effects.
Supreme Court
New York Times: The Roberts Court’s Surprising Move Leftward
Alicia Parlapiano, Adam Liptak, andJeremy Bowers
The court has issued liberal decisions in 54 percent of the cases in which it had announced decisions as of June 22, according to the Supreme Court Database, using a widely accepted standard developed by political scientists. If that trend holds, the final percentage could rival the highest since the era of the notably liberal court of the 1950s and 1960s led by Chief Justice Earl Warren.
FEC
Brennan Center: The FEC and the Breakdown of the Rule of Law
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy
There is a serious rule of law problem in how rarely campaign finance laws are enforced at the federal level by the Federal Election Commission, the agency set up to regulate money in politics.
Philosopher Jeremy Waldron taught me about the rule of law at Columbia Law School. As a 1L student, I could see no point in this “waste” of my precious time. But the more I see how lawlessness works in the real world, the more grateful I am to Columbia for exploring this concept in such depth.
The States
The Oregonian: Democrats spike campaign finance reform
Steve Duin
Late last week, the staff of Senate majority leader Diane Rosenbaum, D-Portland, told Common Cause that Senate Joint Resolution 5 is toast. Rosenbaum and Senate President Peter Courtney won’t give voters a chance to amend the Oregon Constitution to authorize limits on campaign contributions to candidates.
