In the News
New York Times: Small Pool of Rich Donors Dominates Election Giving
Nicholas Confessore, Sarah Cohen and Karen Yourish
“Most start-up operations need an angel investor: someone who believes in the project and the candidate and puts money in to make it viable,” said David Keating, president of the Center for Competitive Politics, which pushes for fewer limits on campaign giving. He said the potential for corruption was minimal.
“Are they going to return people’s phone calls? Yeah, I’m sure they’re going to return people’s phone calls,” Mr. Keating said. “But I don’t think it’s going to drive policy.”
AP: Nearly 5 dozen give a third of all ’16 campaign cash
Julie Bykowicz and Jack Gillum
“Big money gives us more competitive elections by helping many more candidates spread their message,” said David Keating, director of the Center for Competitive Politics, which advocates for fewer campaign finance limits…
Many say their contributions, which the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized as equivalent to free speech, merely reflect their intense belief in a particular candidate — and in the political system in general.
“I’d think that the fact that I’m willing to spend money in the public square rather than buying myself a toy would be considered a good thing,” said Scott Banister, a Silicon Valley investor who gave $1.2 million to a super PAC helping Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in the Republican presidential race.
CCP
Wisconsin’s “John Doe” Decision: More than “Reformers” Can Handle
Brad Smith
In sum, the Supreme Court clearly has held that coordinated expenditures may be limited – and not just in the two cases mentioned by Malloy. And the Wisconsin Supreme Court does not suggest otherwise. But SCOTUS has never addressed the question at issue in Wisconsin: What counts as a “coordinated expenditure”?
This ought to be enough to demonstrate that Malloy’s analysis proves nothing, but it is also worth noting that not only is Malloy’s critique misleading, it is flat out false. In fact, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision cites both Buckley and McConnell. It just doesn’t cite the parts Malloy wants it to cite – which makes sense, given that those parts tells us very little about the issue involved. Rather, it quotes McConnell, within a cite to Wisconsin Right to Life, for the proposition that “the compelling governmental interest that justifies the regulation of express advocacy (the prevention of quid pro quo corruption) ‘might not apply to’ the regulation of issue advocacy.” And it cites Buckley repeatedly, not for the uncontested proposition that coordinated expenditures can be treated as contributions, but in analyzing the contested issue in the case: whether or not the definition of “expenditure” in “coordinated expenditure” must be limited in some way.
FEC
Washington Examiner: It’s back: FEC says regulation Internet, Google, Facebook under its ‘purview’
Paul Bedard
Ann M. Ravel, discussing election regulation during a speech in New York, suggested it was time to produce “thoughtful policy” targeting internet political activity. She also expressed frustration that her last bid was met with “threatening misogynist responses to me…”
Under current rules, the FEC regulates paid campaign ads on the internet just like they do on TV. However, videos or other social media posted for free are not regulated…
But in answering the question this week, Ravel indicated she wants to pursue regulations. “It would be under the purview of the FEC to look at some of the issues that arise in new media and the impact of new media, in particular with respect to disclosure and ensuring that there is no corporate contributions, for example excessive contributions or contributions to a particular candidates for example,” she said.
FoxNews.com: FEC head suggests fixing agency by firing everyone except her
While calling for a host of campaign finance reforms — including more disclosure by political groups, easier online access to data — she urged changes as well for the “cop on the beat,” the FEC.
“Certainly Congress or the president could establish a blue ribbon commission to propose reforms at the FEC, including replacing holdover commissioners of which everybody is a holdover commissioner except me,” she said.
Ravel then chuckled, and added: “So that’s not for personal reasons.”
Cleveland Plain Dealer: FEC must find a way to break partisan deadlock
Editorial Board
With last week’s announcement from the IRS that it will not change the tax code to force political operatives to stop using nonprofit “social welfare” institutions to disguise the identities of contributors – the so-called “dark money” of politics – the FEC may be the only thing standing between the citizens and more political funding abuses.
The commission must find a way to break the impasse: Flip a coin. Consult an Ouija board. Use a Magic 8 Ball. Change the law. Decide to set aside the partisanship.
But DO something.
Independent Groups
NPR: SuperPAC Fundraising Already Dwarfs 2012 Levels
Danielle Kurtzleben
Below is a quick look at how fundraising from superPACs supporting individual candidates, combined with campaign totals, looked at this point in 2011, compared to this year…
So there’s plenty of evidence that astounding sums of money will fuel the 2016 election. But what does it mean? In part, it means more ads and more competition for that ad space. After all, superPACs are known as “independent expenditure-only committees,” and those expenditures include things like ads and mailers that advocate for (or against) a candidate.
Politico: 67 donors and gusher of cash change 2016 race
Kenneth P. Vogel, Tarini Parti and Theodoric Meyer
To be sure, small-dollar fundraising takes longer to gain traction, and there’s a strong incentive for the campaigns to keep at it. Cash raised directly by campaigns can be spent more efficiently thanks to the election rules left in place after the federal court decisions that paved the way for unlimited spending by billionaire-backed groups. The rules prohibit campaigns, which are barred from accepting more than $2,700-per-donor for the primary campaign, from coordinating their spending strategies with super PACs and other non-profits that can accept unlimited contributions. That can complicate efforts by big-money groups to mirror a campaign’s messages. Additionally, the groups do not qualify for lower television advertising rates that stations are required to provide candidates.
Bloomberg: Unspent Money Burning Holes in Super-PAC Pockets
Tim Higgins
Super-PACs and 527s, outside groups that can raise unlimited amounts of money to help candidates as long they don’t coordinate, have been relatively quiet thus far, spending only about $23 million of the $261 million they raised in the first half of the year. That left plenty of powder in the keg, even as the potential for more massive fundraising came into focus with last week’s disclosures by the groups.
The first open seat in the White House since the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision that gave rise to super-PACs has sparked a race for the nation’s deep-pocketed donors. While official campaigns still outspent super-PACs and 527s in the 2012 presidential campaign, that dynamic is expected to be reversed in this election cycle.
Wisconsin John Doe
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: After Doe investigations, a chance for sensible reform
Editorial
Did prosecutors really treat targets of the probe like dangerous felons? Should they have done so? Schmitz has said search warrants were executed professionally but we agree there are reasonable questions about the way the warrants were served and whether campaign finance regulations should be a matter of felony crimes or civil fines. That is something that should be addressed by the bipartisan task force updating campaign finance laws.
But this polarized and dysfunctional court, which has done little in recent years to earn the public’s trust and respect, made little effort to divine the facts.
Wisconsin Gazette: Investigators: Walker’s office ‘obstructed’ probe of funds stolen from veterans charity
Dee J. Hall
Investigators in the closed John Doe probe argued in a federal court brief filed on Friday that Scott Walker’s county executive staff “obstructed” its efforts to investigate missing donations to a veterans fund. The court brief includes recently unsealed investigative records.
Walker’s office did not respond to a message left Friday evening asking about the allegations that his office failed to cooperate in investigating the veterans-fund thefts. In 2012, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that a Walker spokeswoman denied that his office was uncooperative with the probe, and Walker has denied the allegation in the past.
Tax Payer Financed Campaigns
Vox: Bernie Sanders suggests giving every American $100 to give to campaigns
Andrew Prokop
There are also questions about whether amplifying the power of small donations could end up polarizing our politics even more. The candidates who raise lots of small dollars are usually at the left and right edges of their parties, as Adam Bonica and Jenny Shen wrote at the Monkey Cage. Recent small-donor successes include Ben Carson, Michele Bachmann … and Bernie Sanders, who raised $10 million of his $13.5 million presidential fundraising haul from small dollars.
Candidates and Campaigns
Washington Post: Why did a Ted Cruz super PAC give $500,000 to Carly Fiorina’s?
Jose A. DelReal
A super PAC supporting former tech executive Carly Fiorina’s run reported raising $3.5 million — with a half-million dollar lift from a super PAC supporting GOP presidential rival Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.).
The pro-Cruz PAC, Keep the Promise I, reported the disbursement Friday in a document filed with the Federal Election Commission. That is…unusual, to say the least.
