In the News
Washington Post: New conservative group aims to build GOP support for reducing influence of big donors
By Matea GoldBrad Smith, a conservative law professor and former member of the Federal Election Commission, called the idea of the GOP rallying around new campaign finance restrictions “a reform fantasy.”“A lot of conservatives, particularly tea party folks and populists, share the general distrust of big money and power,” Smith said. “But then they begin to see how laws purporting to regulate money in politics work, and they get very wary.”Smith added that critics will question the provenance of Take Back Our Republic, whose leaders — including McKinnon, GOP strategist Juleanna Glover and former FEC commissioner Trevor Potter — have been involved in discussions with groups on the left about how to rally broader political support for campaign finance issues.
IRS
AP: IRS head says budget cuts could force 2-day agency shutdown
“Unfortunately, this means at this time we need to plan for the possibility of a shutdown of IRS operations for two days later this fiscal year, which will involve furloughing employees on those days,” Koskinen said in the email. “Shutting down the IRS will be a last resort, but I want to be upfront with you about the problem.”
Independent Groups
NPR: 5 Years After ‘Citizens United,’ SuperPACs Continue To Grow
By Peter OverbyThe heart of Citizens United is the notion that superPACs, and other outside groups, are completely independent of candidates. That underpins the Court’s conclusion that unregulated money from big donors wouldn’t be corrupting to lawmakers.Federal law says federal candidates and officeholders can’t coordinate with superPACs. But until Bush becomes a candidate, that restriction doesn’t apply.“So long as you do not take steps to actively and publicly campaign, then a superPAC is permissible,” said campaign finance lawyer Craig Engle, who represented candidate Jon Huntsman in the 2012 Republican contest. “If you have a superPAC and there isn’t a candidate, there’s no worry of coordination because there aren’t two entities that could be coordinating.”
CPI: Liberal ‘dark money’ group could face IRS fine
By Michael BeckelUnion-backed Pennsylvanians for Accountability, which spent more than $1 million on political advertisements targeting Republican Gov. Tom Corbett and a handful of state lawmakers, failed to file a mandatory tax return, the Center for Public Integrity has learned.For failing to file returns with the IRS on time, the secretive, Pittsburgh-based Pennsylvanians for Accountability could be fined up to $50,000.The IRS confirmed the agency had not received the group’s tax filing — the kind of document that provides a key window into the inner workings of politically active nonprofit groups like Pennsylvanians for Accountability, which are becoming increasingly influential in state and national elections.
SCOTUS/Judiciary
Bloomberg View: The Town, the Church and Free Speech
By Noah FeldmanThe church’s argument is straightforward, but also far-reaching: It says the town can’t distinguish between political, ideological and directional signs without violating the First Amendment’s prohibition on the regulation of content. According to the church, the town must treat the directional signs exactly the same way it treats political or ideological signs.Here’s where the case goes from silly to all-important. The basis for the town’s position is that some speech is more protected by the First Amendment than other speech. The town — following the lead of an Arizona state law — is saying that political speech is perhaps the most important kind of free speech, the kind the First Amendment was designed to protect. That’s why political signs get to be the largest.
Candidates, Politicians, Campaigns, and Parties
LA Times: Tax credit for $200 in political giving could encourage small donors
By David GahnsThe policy landscape is highly polarized, with the two sides talking past each other. Rather than simply rehearsing the same stale debates, we need to find different approaches. One is to enact a federal tax credit to encourage small donors to contribute up to $200 to a candidate or political party.Such a tax credit would provide every American who files an IRS tax return with a chance to make a political contribution to his or her candidate or political party. This is an idea first proposed in Congress in the 1950s, and it deserves fresh consideration today.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Reporter: GAB plays victim card in ‘complicated’ John Doe, campaign finance farce
By M.D. Kittle“(Beyond) the constitutional problems, it’s also incredibly complicated, and we have to remember that most of the people who are running for office are not lawyers and have a right to turn to the statutes as guidance as to what they need to do in order to stay on the right side of the law,” said GAB Judge Elsa Lamelas during last month’s accountability board meeting.“And even those people who are running for public office who are lawyers, such as judges, may not be First Amendment scholars. It’s just gotten way too complicated,” she added.If Chapter 11, Wisconsin’s campaign financing statutes, is too difficult for all but the most beautiful campaign finance minds to decipher, why did the agency pair up with Democrat Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm on an investigation that relies on a strained interpretation of Chapter 11?
Freedom of Speech
Wall Street Journal: Firebombing Hong Kong Democrats
EditorialHours after world leaders and three million demonstrators declared “Je suis Charlie” in France, masked assailants in Hong Kong threw Molotov cocktails at the home and office of pro-democracy media magnate Jimmy Lai. While the attacks caused no casualties, they underscore the urgency of Hong Kong’s fight for freedom.Mr. Lai has long faced physical and commercial intimidation. In 2008 police foiled a plot to assassinate him and Democratic Party founder Martin Lee. In 2013 suspected gangsters crashed a car into the gate of his home, leaving behind a machete and axe.
