In the News
The Hill: Prohibiting politics as public service
By Eric Wang, senior fellow, Center for Competitive PoliticsThe CREW lawsuit claims that, by permitting 501(c)(4)s to engage in any amount of political activity, the IRS is violating the statute, which requires such organizations to promote social welfare “exclusively.” To accept CREW’s argument is to accede to the lowest form of cynicism – one fundamentally at odds with the basic notions of democratic government. It requires us to believe that political advocacy – in fact, politics itself – cannot promote better government and, therefore, advance social welfare.
CCP
Organizing for Action “Founder’s Summit” to be Held This Wednesday
By Sarah LeeOrganizing for Action is becoming something of a conundrum. On the one hand, the worries “that foreign money could easily be laundered through the dark money system that evolved after the Citizens United decision,” and the OFA is representative of such an effort may be a bit overwrought. As are the panicked calls to “shut it down.”
Independent Groups
Wall Street Journal: Notable & Quotable
The late Supreme Court Justice William O. DouglasSome may think that one group or another should not express its views in an election because it is too powerful, because it advocates unpopular ideas, or because it has a record of lawless action. But these are not justifications for withholding First Amendment rights from any group—labor or corporate. First Amendment rights are part of the heritage of all persons and groups in this country. They are not to be dispensed or withheld merely because we or the Congress thinks the person or group is worthy or unworthy.
Roll Call: Rules of the Game: Obama’s Nonprofit Carries on Dubious Tradition
By Eliza Newlin CarneyLike Organizing for Action, President Barack Obama’s controversial nonprofit advocacy arm, the Committee to Save New York is organized as a (501)(c)(4) social welfare group, and it has drawn fire from watchdogs complaining about transparency and special interest access. The New York group’s receipts include some $2 million from gambling interests with a stake in Cuomo’s casino policies.
Roll Call: Lieberman Moving to AEI
By Kate AckleyThe think tank American Enterprise Institute announced Monday that former Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut is joining the group as a visiting fellow. Lieberman, who was a Democrat and then later an independent, will also co-chair AEI’s American Internationalism Project with former Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona.
Disclosure
Washington Examiner: Why do the Koch Brothers get all the sunshine?
By Mark TapscottSimilar results appear from the same searches on The Washington Post web site, which turns up 277 links to the Koch Brothers and 11 for Tides. And on the New Yorker web site, Koch Brothers generated 35 links and none for Tides.The contrast was even more dramatic on the Common Cause site, where the Koch Brothers were linked 4,560 times versus one for Tides.What do these search results tell us? Only that it appears the Koch Brothers are of vastly heightened interest to two of America’s greatest daily newspapers and to the dean of campaign finance reform advocacy organizations than is the Tides Foundation.
Lobbying and Ethics
Roll Call: Ethics Panel: Members Can’t Use Campaign Accounts to Soften Sequester Cuts
“House Rule 24 does not permit offices to use campaign funds for communications purposes, such as constituent mail or official newsletters or other frankable items, or for compensation for services, furniture or equipment,” read a memo from Ethics Chairman K. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, and ranking member Linda T. Sánchez, D-Calif.
FEC
BLT: FEC: Larry Craig Misused Campaign Funds for Personal Legal Expenses
The Federal Election Commission in June 2012 sued Craig in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, saying the $200,000 he spent was not an “ordinary and necessary” expense incurred as part of his duty as a senator. The FEC wants Craig to repay the money and also pay a penalty. Craig was a senator from Idaho from 1991 to 2009.
Roll Call: Why the FEC Won’t Catch the Next Jesse Jackson Jr.
By Melanie SloanFederal law bars candidates from converting campaign funds to their personal use. Basically, this means candidates can’t use campaign funds to cover expenses incurred irrespective of a run for office: groceries, clothing, mortgage payments and the like. Payments to family members are permitted only if they represent fair market value for bona fide campaign services.In response to Jackson’s request, the commission issued a formal opinion concluding his campaign could, indeed, pay his wife for her services.
State and Local
California –– Sacramento Bee: California lawmakers avoid campaign contribution limits with ballot measure accounts
By Torey Van OotThirteen years after California instituted campaign finance limits, lawmakers at the state Capitol are making broad use of a maneuver to avoid them.
