In the News
US News: Campaign Finance Disclosure Rules Infringe on First Amendment Rights
By David KeatingAs we consider this question, consider an area where there is no disclosure in campaign finance—editorials and news coverage. This works exceptionally well, despite that fact that we usually don’t know who even writes an editorial endorsing a candidate, nor do we know how much advertisers spent on ads in the paper that day, or whether news coverage or editorials were influenced by advertisers.
Independent groups
NY Times: With Elections Awash in Cash, There’s Plenty of Blame to Go Around
By JOHN HARWOODDavid Axelrod, President Obama’s political strategist, recently invoked a common perception about the 2012 campaign by blaming the Supreme Court for empowering 21st-century “robber barons trying to take over the government.”
The Hill: Pro-Obama super PAC charges Romney worker built ‘own coffin’
By Rachel LevenThe pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA has released a tough new ad against Mitt Romney in which a worker says he built his own “coffin” after Romney’s private equity firm bought his paper plant.
SCOTUS/Judiciary
LA Times: Supreme Court rules against union on nonmember fees for politics
By David G. SavageTheU.S. Supreme Courtsharply criticized public-sector unions for using money from nonmembers to fund special political campaigns, stepping into the intense political debate about such unions and signaling that new constitutional limits may be coming.
Disclosure
Washington Post: The dangers disclosure can pose to free speech
By Mitch McConnelMy main target was the Obama administration’s attempts to single out its critics through federal agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Department of Health and Human Services, and even through a proposed executive order aimed at denying critics government contracts.
The Hill: GOP leader fires back at newspaper over First Amendment protections
By Alexander Bolton“Unfortunately, many journalists have been less concerned about a president using his powers to silence critics than in drawing false inferences about the motives of those blowing the whistle, ” he wrote.
Candidates and parties
The Hill: Gov. O’Malley: Wealthy Dems should ‘stop being so precious’
By Geneva Sands“I think that Democrats of means should stop being so precious. They should put their oar in the water and start rowing forward,” O’Malley said.
WSJ: The Soul of the Democratic Party Machine
By JAY COSTIn the wake of Gov. Scott Walker’s victory in the Wisconsin recall election, Democrats are blaming their loss on Republican-friendly super PACs and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United. The thinking goes that moneyed interests far outspent the Democrats, bought the election, and undermined democracy.
USA Today: Donors’ push strengthens behind Romney
By Fredreka Schouten and Christopher Schnaars
Republican donors rallied to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in May. Scores of his allies wrote five-figure checks to fuel his joint fundraising with the Republican Party, and hundreds more contributed for the first time, newly filed campaign-finance reports show.
