In the News
Library of Law and Liberty: Why Should ‘Electoral Integrity’ Exclude Freedom of Speech?
By Bradley A. SmithHaving rejected the traditional justifications for campaign-finance laws, Post attempts to build a case for them around the First Amendment “value” or “principle” of “electoral integrity.” He defines “electoral integrity” as “a property of a system of representation, in which the public trusts that representatives will be attentive to pubic opinion.” Quoting the political theorist Hanna Pitkin, he argues that electoral integrity is “not any single action by any one participant, but the over-all structure and functioning of the system.”Is this a better rationale? While asserting that maintenance of “electoral integrity” is “required” by the First Amendment, Post provides little guidance on how one recognizes when “electoral integrity” is in danger, other than by vague references to what “Americans” believe. Indeed the author makes clear that he does not wish to answer specific questions about the constitutionality of campaign-finance regulation in light of the principle of “electoral integrity”—not even the regulations at issue in Citizens United itself.But ultimately a theory has to be applied. How would a judge use the principle of “electoral integrity” to decide a case? This is not an idle question, for the Constitution is not an idle or theoretical document—it is a concrete document for governance. If a judge cannot use “electoral integrity” to decide particular cases, then the whole effort sounds like the old joke about the economist explaining how to open a tin of food on a deserted island: “Assume we have a can opener.” It’s a great theory, but it can’t be used to open the tin.
Independent Groups
NY Times: Rick Perry Steps Up PAC Staffing
By Maggie HabermanMr. Perry is moving to establish a “super PAC” to back his effort, and has turned to Austin Barbour, a Mississippi-based lobbyist and political operative to head it, according to three people with knowledge of the moves.Mr. Barbour’s brother, Henry, is a Republican national committee member who has supported Mr. Perry for years. The brothers’ uncle is Haley Barbour, the former Mississippi governor and a senior figure in Republican circles.Austin Barbour most recently worked with his brother to help re-elect Senator Thad Cochran, the Mississippi Republican, in 2014, in one of the most competitive Republican primary fights of the midterm cycle.
Disclosure
Washington Post: How campaign finance law makes senators early lame ducks
By David KarolTwo key provisions of FECA help produce the very early retirement announcements we now observe. The first one limits the amount individuals can contribute to a congressional candidate’s campaign. In 2014, this limit was $2,600. This restriction made fundraising much more time-consuming than it used to be. Senators could no longer rely on handful of big donors. Instead, they would need to devote an enormous amount of time to fundraising to collect the millions they needed to be reelected.The second key aspect of FECA is the quarterly reporting requirement. Senators (and other congressional candidates) must file quarterly reports with the Federal Election Commission detailing their fundraising. These reports are public and give others in the political world a clear picture of how actively a senator is – or is not – fundraising in the years before their election. When senators are NOT seen raising considerable sums well in advance, observers infer that the senator will probably retire, whatever he or she may say about future plans. Given how little she had banked, Boxer’s announcement in January came as no surprise to California politics watchers.The public nature of fundraising under FECA means that senators who are thinking about retiring or even planning to do so can no longer conceal their intentions without a lot of effort.
Candidates, Politicians, Campaigns, and Parties
Bloomberg News: Lobbyists pray for Clinton restoration
By Jeanne CummingsFor six years, the party’s “advocacy class” has been shut out of the highest level of political fundraising due to President Barack Obama’s ban on lobbyist and corporate PAC donations to his campaigns. It’s one of the few areas where the president’s anti-special-interest rules actually have stuck, if only because it would have been so easy for the news media or opponents to catch a violation and generate a headline.Obama raised record amounts in both campaigns, and rewards and access flowed to big bundlers who tapped their personal networks to generate contributions. But some of Washington’s biggest Democratic lobbyists found themselves locked out of big- donor events such as private briefings from senior campaign aides, small gatherings with the party’s presidential nominee and a shot at a prestigious ambassadorship. The snub left many lobbyists seething at their diminished status.
Wall Street Journal: Ben Carson Creates Committee to Explore Presidential Bid
By Reid J. EpsteinRetired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has formally created an exploratory committee to run for president, his campaign chief executive, Terry Giles, said Monday.Mr. Carson, 63 years old, is one of the first would-be 2016 Republican candidates to form a formal committee devoted to raising money to explore a presidential bid. He has made a number of hires lately, including a national finance director and aides in several early voting states, who work for his political-action committee, a technically separate entity. With the exploratory committee, Mr. Carson can raise money that he can transfer to his campaign once it begins.
Politico: The Goldman Sachs primary
By Ben WhiteNEW YORK — Forget the Democratic and Republican primaries: The two biggest names in the 2016 presidential race are competing directly against each other in an elite forum, the halls of Goldman Sachs.Jeb Bush will be back in New York raising money next week with his sights set on Goldman, the wealthiest and most successful bank in Wall Street history. He has a pair of events scheduled for next Wednesday with current and former Goldman executives, sources familiar with Bush’s plans said.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Reporter: Is John Doe special prosecutor still working with partisan DA, GAB?
By M.D. KittleMADISON, Wis. — It seems the special prosecutor in a politically charged John Doe investigation into dozens of conservative groups and Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign just can’t quit his old prosecutor pals.Contacted by Wisconsin Reporter last week, Francis Schmitz said he stops into the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office “every so often.” He likes to pop in to the state Government Accountability Board’s Madison office, too.“I visit them from time to time,” the special prosecutor said.Just what he’s doing there, Schmitz won’t say.
Ethics
IB Times: Rep. Aaron Schock Reimburses Taxpayer-Paid Private Plane Fare For Football Game
By Shuan SimThe Sun-Times reported that according to House disbursement records, Schock used taxpayer money to travel from Peoria to Chicago for the game, and had billed a similar expense for a September trip to New York. Schock had spent $20,855 in taxpayer money for the Chicago and New York trips altogether, according to the Sun-Times, and a recent disbursement record showed a payment of $10,802 to pilot Keith Siilats for “commercial transportation.” “That whole weekend was paid by the government,” Siilats told the Sun-Times Sunday.Siilat said that Schock called him asking to fly him to a Chicago Bears game, which Siilats agreed to, according to the Sun-Times. Siilats flew Schock, his district director Dayne LaHood and three others to Chicago Midway International Airport and was invited to watch the game with them as compensation. The tickets cost anywhere from $106 to $430, and it was not clear who paid for the six tickets, reported the Sun-Times.
State and Local
California –– KQED: Bay Area Legislator Says Fight Outside Campaign Cash… By Taxing It
By John MyersThat being said, the Marin County legislator has his own number in mind: ten percent.“When we go to the store, we pay sales tax, which is upwards of ten percent in many communities across California,” said Levine. “We think this is a reasonable amount.”As far as anyone can tell, there’s no comparable example in any state and California would be a national leader were this to be signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown. The hurdles are numerous: the legislation requires a supermajority vote of each house of the Legislature; powerful interest groups across the political spectrum will no doubt see it as something that could divert their dollars away from influencing elections; and it’s entirely possible that smart campaign attorneys would find ways to spend money from these political committees that wouldn’t trigger the tax (perhaps by the familiar dodge of not expressly calling for someone to vote yes or no on a candidate).
Maine –– Sun Journal: Maine lawmakers rip ‘dishonesty’ of leaders’ private campaign fundraising
By Scott ThistleAUGUSTA, Maine — A stack of bills aimed at cleaning up Maine’s public election financing law holds the potential to rankle political leaders on both sides of the aisle.Rep. Justin Chenette, D-Saco, said he knows leadership is displeased with his efforts to stop candidates who are seeking state office from also running political action committees that can filter money back to a political party, which in turn can use it to support a candidate or oppose a rival.According to Chenette and others, the practice creates a virtual black hole in Maine’s campaign finance law, allowing candidates the cover of their party when attacking opponents.
New York –– NY Post: Sheldon Silver’s replacement took cash from a convicted mobster
By Michael GartlandThe state’s newly minted Assembly speaker, Carl Heastie, accepted cash from a mobster convicted of racketeering and steered thousands more to a man who did time for manslaughter, records show.Between 2003 and 2008, more than $2,800 flowed into the Bronx Democrat’s campaign coffers from Tri-State Employment Services and its top executives, including reputed Bonanno associate Neil Messina, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison last April in connection with a 1992 home-invasion murder.Heastie also directed at least $250,000 to the Bronx Business Alliance. The now-defunct nonprofit’s head, John Bonizio, was convicted of manslaughter in 1982 for bludgeoning a man to death with a baseball bat. Bonizio also made a plea deal after being indicted in the same year for trying to bribe an NYPD detective.
West Virginia –– Metro News: Compromise campaign finance bill going back to Senate committee
By Shauna JohnsonCHARLESTON, W.Va. – A compromise bill raising the contribution limits for political candidates in West Virginia and making changes to campaign finance disclosure requirements is going back to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the final weeks of the 2015 Regular Legislative Session.It was taken off the Senate floor on Monday morning.Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael (R-Jackson, 04) said the proposal is about increased transparency and accountability and “puts the candidates back in control of their message, rather than having these third-party, shadow organizations define the candidate and the issues.”
