In the News
ATTN: Here’s the Logic of A National Leader Who Wants MORE Money in Politics
By Thor BensonThe CCP is continually making efforts, through various forms of litigation, to pull back the limits on campaign spending as far as possible. Beyond that, the group is suing California Attorney General Kamala Harris because of her efforts to make the organization share its unredacted copy of its donor list. They state a redacted version is publicly available, but they don’t want to share the information of specific donors who might be less willing to donate if they knew they are going to be identified.“I think there’s general consensus that it’s fine to require disclosure of contributions to candidates and political action committees that work for or against candidates and political parties,” Keating said. However, CCP is arguing that its status as a nonprofit means it simply has to disclose how much it’s raised and how it was spent, not the personal information of donors.
Roll Call: Politics Needs Privacy
By Luke WachobWhat the White House understood then that must be remembered now is that injecting information about companies’ political associations into the contracting process makes politics more corrupt, not less. Assembling a database of companies’ political spending is counterproductive if you want government contracts to go to the most deserving bidder rather than the most loyal donor.We need only look to February for an example of how this deprivation of privacy corrupts politics. In a committee hearing, Washington State Senator Pam Roach vindictively called out companies that had supported her general election opponent and seemed to threaten retaliation against them. “You need to know where your money’s going,” she told them. “Because you know what? I won.” The message to would-be contributors was loud and clear: do not support my challengers if you want to work with my office.Roach’s implicit threat of retaliation against her opponents is the antithesis of how government should behave in a democracy and a stern rebuke to proponents of such an executive order. Government should never punish people or companies for supporting the “wrong” candidate – it should seek to do the best job for everyone. But in politics, we know that people will be vindictive and petty, and that’s why private association is so crucial. Coupled with freedom of speech, it allows individuals and groups – including companies that seek to contract with the government – to seek changes in government policies without suffering retaliation from incumbent politicians or bureaucrats who might seek to please their appropriators.
Philly.com: Money and Philly politics
By John SamplesIndependent spending often means more spending overall during an election. Isn’t that undesirable? To the contrary, political scientists have found that more spending fosters better-informed voters. Moreover, those who were less informed prior to an election gain more from increased spending than those who were better informed initially.But we don’t have to be content with academic studies. The Philadelphia mayoral contest will show another advantage of independent spending.Public education often dominates urban elections. Philadelphia voters are hearing a lot about the issue. In part, voters will hear the voices of those who have a stake in the public education status quo. This is neither surprising nor troubling. Teachers, for example, have an interest in their wages and pensions, and no doubt a genuine faith that more spending on public education will solve most of its ills. Like everyone, they have a right to spend on political speech advancing their interests and ideas.
Independent Groups
Election Law Blog: Michael Boos on @99Rise: “Do As I Say, Not As I Do”
By Michael BoosWhile 99Rise and its spokespersons rail against corporations, nowhere on its website or in its promotional materials does the group or its leaders disclose a critical fact – 99Rise is the very embodiment of the corporate form that it so readily condemns. According to filings with the California Secretary of State’s office, 99Rise is a consortium of two corporate entities – 99Rise National Support Center, which was incorporated on August 7, 2014, and 99Rise Action, which was incorporated on October 14, 2014. And both corporate entities share the same registered agent – Noah Kai Newkirk – the anti-corporate protester who disrupted the Supreme Court.But there’s more. 99Rise solicits contributions on its website, where the contribution page tells would be contributors: “Contributions are tax-deductible.” This, of course, implies the group is a California charity. Nevertheless, according to the California Attorney General’s charities website, none of the 99Rise organizations are registered with that office to solicit contributions for charitable purposes
More Soft Money Hard Law: Fresh Questions About “Coordination” Rules
By Bob BauerThe Brennan Center regularly devotes space to a review of the literature on the money-in-politics debate, and this week, Benjamin Brickner discusses an insightful paper on “coordination” by Professor Michael Gilbert of the University of Virginia and Brian Barnes, a J.D. candidate there. The authors present the case that anti-coordination rules don’t operate to prevent corruption achieved through independent spending–and that they can’t, even if strengthened. There are too many ways around coordination restrictions: a spender can comply with the law, spending “independently” for a candidate, but still offer the politician value that can be “cashed in” later. If coordination rules do not deter corruption but do limit speech, then their constitutionality is thrown into question.It is not difficult for an independent group to figure out what the politician may need and appreciate. Public sources of useful information are plentiful and these can be supplemented by private polling and other expert advice; and if there is a risk of missing the mark and timing or targeting an ad imperfectly, there remains value to be conveyed. As Gilbert and Barnes point out, this is a question only of the efficiency of the expenditure, and some ground can be made up by just spending more money. A politician can still be grateful for $75,000 of discounted benefit from an ad that cost $100,000. As Gilbert and Barnes frame the point, “[U]nless the law prohibits candidates from publicizing their platforms and strategies, and outsiders from paying attention, then outsiders will always have enough information to make expenditures that convey at least some value.”
San Francisco Chronicle: Suit alleges coercion in teachers unions’ using dues for politics
By John DiazBhakta saw her union dues working against her in spring 2013 when she went to Sacramento to testify in support of Senate Bill 441, which would have changed teacher evaluations in much of the state from a binary “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory” rating to a four-tiered system that would provide more feedback and accountability. She was more than a little stunned and annoyed to hear a CTA lobbyist testify that teachers “don’t want this” and would find such evaluations “degrading.” The bill died when six senators failed to vote.“That’s where it hit me: There is a big, big change that needs to happen,” Bhakta said. “We have a very monetarily equipped organization that is fighting for the exact opposite of what I and many other teachers are fighting for.”Worse yet, that lobbying effort came out of dues deducted from the paychecks of Bhakta and other teachers.“Monetarily equipped” is an understatement. The CTA spent more than $211 million in political endeavors between 2000 and 2009, which is more than the oil, tobacco and pharmaceutical industries combined. Its choke chain on the ruling Democrats in the State Capitol is indisputable, blocking reforms on everything from rigid seniority rules to the process for firing teachers who abuse our children.
Casper Star Tribune: Wyoming Liberty Group starts national organization
By Laura Hancock“The reality is very few people in this country are capable of giving any money in campaigns,” he said.But Klein argued when states restrict campaign finance, middle class people are unable to run a successful campaign and get their message out against wealthy candidates who can self-fund. That’s why he characterizes it as a free speech issue, he said.People who give to an organization such as the Sierra Club or a political candidate are also making a statement, which is free speech, he said.Klein doesn’t see lifting restrictions as giving wealthy people more access to politicians.
SCOTUS/Judiciary
The Hill: Lawmakers: Supreme Court policy to blame for secret recordings
By Mario TrujilloThe Supreme Court has itself to blame for the surreptitious recordings of court proceedings that have surfaced in the past year, some lawmakers say.The lawmakers, who have advocated for greater court transparency, do not condone the protesters who captured the video, but say the court’s strict ban on any legitimate recording during oral arguments has encouraged it.“I think it underscores the nature of the problem that people are going to try to go underground, and technology increasingly allows that, precisely because of the absence of openness and transparency,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) told The Hill.
Senator Menendez
Daily Beast: When Helping a Friend Is a Crime
By Olivia Nuzzi and Jackie KucinichMenendez claims this is typical friendly behavior. Prosecutors, he snapped on Wednesday, just “don’t know the difference between friendship and corruption.”And sure, who among us hasn’t—as the indictment specifies—personally called an ambassador to get visas approved for three of our friend’s girlfriends, or intervened when that friend was accused of Medicare fraud, or tried to prevent a foreign government from screwing up a contract with that friend’s business—all while that friend financed our reelection campaign? It’s just what friends do.Menendez’s defense hinges in part on the sheer length of his friendship with Melgen: 20 years. Of course, 20 years ago, Menendez was a congressman rising rapidly through the ranks in the Democratic Party. No matter, Menendez says, because the cigar-loving duo are so close that they know each other’s families.
Candidates, Politicians, Campaigns, and Parties
NY Times: Jeb Bush as Inevitable Choice? Republicans Say Not So Fast
By Nicholas Confessore and Maggie HabermanThree months into what allies once confidently described as a “shock and awe” drive to overcome his rivals and dominate the Republican presidential field, Jeb Bush’s early campaigning looks like the juggernaut that wasn’t.He is grappling with the Republican Party’s prickly and demanding ideological blocs, particularly evangelical leaders and pro-Israel hawks. He is struggling to win over grass-roots activists in Iowa and New Hampshire, states he has visited only a handful of times. And Mr. Bush’s undisputed advantage — the millions of dollarsstreaming rapidly into his political organization — may not be enough to knock out other contenders.For all the Republican “bundlers” who have signed up to raise money for Mr. Bush, others remain uncommitted or are hedging their bets by aiding more than one candidate. Some are privately chafing at what they view as the Bush camp’s presumption of their loyalty.
Politico: Gary Hart: Billion-dollar Clinton campaign should ‘frighten’ Americans
By Jonathan TopazThe post-Citizens United campaign finance environment has sullied the presidential process, he said, benefiting establishment politicians who cater to financial backers. He pointed to his own experience, noting that he and his wife mortgaged their home for between $50,000 and $75,000 — an amount that made a significant difference in his first campaign in 1984.“I’m now told the Clinton campaign intends to raise $1 billion. Now, that ought to frighten every American,” he said.The role of money in elections, the 78-year-old Hart said, is a driving force behind the current “dynastic” nature of American politics.
Politico: Hillary Clinton’s Brooklyn
By Annie Karni and Gabriel DebenedettiThe chaotic weeks of working out of Starbucks, friends’ Manhattan pads, and a tiny office space will soon come to an end for Hillary Clinton’s early staffers — they’re officially setting up shop at 1 Pierrepont Plaza in Brooklyn Heights.A lease has been signed at that location for Clinton’s campaign headquarters, according to a source familiar with the deal. The operation will occupy two full floors of the building, which is close to 12 subway lines and a dozen bus lines. The Clinton team will be taking the space as is – with no buildout.Having the ink dry on the lease indicates that Clinton’s official announcement will be coming very soon. Federal Election Commission rules state that a candidate has only 15 days between conducting campaign activities and filing the official 2016 paperwork, and the lease signing could start the clock on an official launch.
Corporations
NY Times: Big Business and Anti-Gay Laws
EditorialJust issuing corporate statements against such a law is relatively easy and actually doesn’t provide protection against discrimination. If corporations and their executives care about civil rights, they should make clear that they will not donate to or support the campaigns of politicians who back such regressive legislation. They certainly shouldn’t back lawmakers like Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, who is running for president and who has been a vocal supporter of the initial versions of the Indiana and Arkansas laws, and Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, who suggested on Wednesday that gays have it pretty good in the United States because they are not executed here as they are in Iran.
