In the News
The Federalist: Despite Investigations, Obama’s IRS Has Never Stopped Targeting Conservatives
By Paul Jossey
Evidence suggests targeting will continue and indeed spread -even assuming the IRS henceforth uses objective criteria to approve tax-exempt applications.
It is important to note the structural factors that caused the scandal and assess the likelihood of recurrence. As Kimberly Strassel documents in “The Intimidation Game,” the Citizens United case fueled a cauldron of pressure on federal agencies having regulatory authority over political speech. The president, Senate Democrats including Chuck Schumer, Max Baucus, and Sheldon Whitehouse, and campaign finance reform groups blitzed the federal apparatus to stop uninvited political speech…
The IRS got the message and “fixed it.” Yet the same forces “up in arms” over Citizens United are still “screaming.”
Ricochet: You Picked A Fine Time to Go Nuts, GOP
By Mona Charen and Jay Nordlinger
Did Citizens United hand the US electoral system to nefarious corporate interests and “dark money”? We ask former FEC chairman and free speech advocate Bradley Smith. His lucid explication makes even this murky realm of the law very clear.
Jay and Mona then consider emotionalism, tribalism, and extremism in American politics. Also, is it just the women angle that makes Trump unacceptable? Bob Dylan gets a shout out that he might not like.
CCP
By David Keating
As you know, California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (“FPPC”), the body charged with the administration and enforcement of California’s Political Reform Act (“Act”), has partnered with the University of California Berkley School of Law, University of California Davis School of Law, and California Forward to conduct a comprehensive review and revision of the Act (“Reform Project”).
The stated goals of the Reform Project are to rewrite the Act in “plain English,” incorporate current regulations, and amend provisions to comply with judicial opinions. Reducing the complexity of the Act is a laudable goal, and we are pleased that the FPPC has undertaken this initiative.
The Center for Competitive Politics offers the following comments on Draft 1 of the Reform Project, which has been submitted for public comment.
SEC
Courthouse News Service: GOP Asks 11th Circuit to Toss Contribution Limits
By Ellen Robinson
A trio of state Republican organizations have asked the 11th Circuit to overturn a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that places tight limits on political contributions from financial advisors and others in the industry.
The SEC rules were drafted by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and have been subject to push back from the GOP from the beginning.
In their Oct. 20 petition to the 11th Circuit, the Georgia and Tennessee Republican parties and the New York Republican Committee claim the new political contributions rules are an unconstitutional overreach by the agency and therefore unenforceable.
Having asked and failed to get the SEC to roll back the new rules, the plaintiffs now seek a permanent injunction against them from the appellate court.
Dangers of Disclosure
Wahington Post: My Halloween email led to a campus firestorm – and a troubling lesson about self-censorship
By Erika Christakis
Many at Yale maintain that my email prompted widespread and civil conversation, and that the ensuing controversy was just a matter of competing expressions of free speech. I aired an unpopular opinion, which was answered by an equally legitimate response.
But these sanguine claims crumble on examination. The community’s response seemed, to many outside the Yale bubble, a baffling overreaction. Nearly a thousand students, faculty and deans called for my and my husband’s immediate removal from our jobs and campus home. Some demanded not only apologies for any unintended racial insensitivity (which we gladly offered) but also a complete disavowal of my ideas (which we did not) – as well as advance warning of my appearances in the dining hall so that students accusing me of fostering violence wouldn’t be disturbed by the sight of me…
My critics have reminded me that there are consequences to my exercise of free speech.
Disclosure
CRP: Now, more and better data for tracking secret money
By Sarah Bryner and Robert Maguire
Beginning today, OpenSecrets is providing downloadable financial information for over 20,000 nonprofit organizations – up from less than 500 – in the largest, cleanest and most detailed free resource for people researching the activities and networks of non-charity nonprofits and dark money organizations…
For the first time, visitors to OpenSecrets can see all grants made by 501(c)4, 501(c)5 and 501(c)6 organizations. If a grant was made to another politically active nonprofit – transfers between groups are common – visitors can easily see that group’s financial information, too, as well as whether it spends money on political activity.
This information goes far beyond other data sets made public to this point.
Independent Groups
Bloomberg BNA: Main Congressional Super PACs Raise $228 Million
By Kenneth P. Doyle
Super political action committees closely linked to Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress have raised a total of $228 million from big contributors, companies, unions and others giving up to $40 million each to help battle for control of the House and Senate…
No matter which side prevails on Election Day, the winners will have received key support from some of the nation’s wealthiest individuals, along with companies, unions and associations that are bound to have interests before Congress.
Some of these contributors won’t be known to the public. While the sources of most of the super PACs’ money were disclosed in the FEC reports, some contributions were given by nonprofit organizations or obscure corporations that don’t disclose their donors.
CPI: Pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC accepted illegal contributions
By Dave Levinthal
Pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC Correct the Record accepted $250,000 in illegal contributions from a charity backed by a Boston-based construction firm already in trouble this year for its political donations.
Suffolk Cares Inc., a nonprofit charity registered under section 501(c)(3) of federal tax code, gave Correct the Record $100,000 on Sept. 8 and another $150,000 on Oct. 12, according to federal campaign finance documents. Charities of this kind are explicitly prohibited from making political contributions under federal law.
Asked about the contributions by the Center for Public Integrity, Correct the Record spokeswoman Elizabeth Shappell said the super PAC is giving the money back to Suffolk Cares Inc. today.
Huffington Post: Super PAC Mega-Donors Expand Election Influence With Record $1 Billion In Contributions
By Paul Blumenthal
The super rich have managed to increase their influence on elections, even though the 2016 presidential race will cost less than the previous one, reversing a longtime trend.
Total super PAC contributions from donors giving $500,000 or more now tops $1 billion – about 15 percent of the estimated $6.6 billion cost of this year’s federal elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
That’s much higher than in 2012, when $500,000-plus donors had given $444 million at this point in the campaign. This year’s $1 billion total even exceeds the combined amount of all soft-money donations to political parties from 1999 until they were banned in 2002.
Surging super PAC spending by the rich shows how the wealthiest Americans are exploiting looser campaign finance laws to expand their political power.
Candidates and Campaigns
CNBC: How Clinton and Trump could change the way cash flows into elections
By Jacob Pramuk
Though Clinton would have some tools at her disposal to make campaign finance a priority if she wins, meaningful reform could prove arduous, experts said.
Beyond appointing Supreme Court justices who would side with her on the issue, Clinton could put campaign finance-minded officials in the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission, said Norm Eisen, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and President Barack Obama’s former ethics czar. He added that Clinton would also have to focus on getting another case to the Supreme Court, possibly the SpeechNow.org v. FEC case in which an appellate court said certain contribution limits were unconstitutional…
Clinton’s own backers in her current presidential run could also complicate her priorities in a possible presidency, especially if she plans to run again in 2020. The huge super PAC backing Clinton, Priorities USA Action, has raised about $175 million in this cycle, more than any other super PAC has.
Boston Globe: Clinton, Walsh return donations from Boston law firm
By Michael McFaul
Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Hillary Clinton on Monday joined a growing number of politicians vowing to return thousands of dollars in donations from the Thornton Law Firm after a pattern of questionable campaign contributions. Meanwhile, US Senator Elizabeth Warren promised to give her donations back if investigators find they’re illegal.
So far, at least 13 politicians from around the country, including eight candidates for US Senate, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, and state Treasurer Deb Goldberg, have said they will return more than $250,000 in total donations from Thornton, a major fund-raiser for the Democratic party nationally…
Governor Charlie Baker, along with the Republican Party and a conservative think tank, called on federal and state campaign finance watchdogs to investigate more than $1 million in campaign contributions from the firm’s lawyers.
Washington Post: Trump is right: The United States needs electoral reform
By Michael McFaul
I have some ideas of what I would write in my report if I were invited to join an international election mission observing the 2016 U.S. presidential election. My bottom line up front: Trump is right; there are irregularities in the American campaign and electoral process that require reform, but they are not the ones Trump usually cites.
First, compared to elections in other consolidated democracies, Americans spend too much money on presidential campaigns, a negative trend that accelerated after the Supreme Court’s 2010 rule regarding the Citizens United case. In this election, the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, has benefited more from the flood of outside money, but the levels of spending both within and outside of the presidential campaigns would be a cause for concern for any election observer mission, especially the disproportionate amount of contributions given by the very wealthy.
The States
Seymour Tribune: Supporters of measures to reshape politics lead fundraising
By James Nord
Supporters of Initiated Measure 22 raised roughly $1.3 million – more than double what opponents received. The campaign took in roughly $664,000 from individuals and nearly $690,000 in cash and in-kind contributions from Represent.Us, an organization working to reduce the influence of money in politics.
Don Frankenfeld, a former GOP state senator who co-chairs the main group backing the plan, said supporters have to work within existing campaign finance rules.The goal is to reduce the money in future campaigns, Frankenfeld said, acknowledging that the group had raised big money to do it…
Being outraised means foes have to be strategic with the resources they allocate, said Ben Lee, chairman of the opposition group.
“Personally, I find it awfully ironic that the group that’s fighting big money in politics has injected so much out-of-state-big money into politics,” he said.
