In the News
Star-Tribune: Wyoming lawmakers want to repeal caps to PAC spending
By LAURA HANCOCK
Today’s aggregate limit is $25,000. On Jan. 1, it will increase to $50,000, said Anne Marie Mackin, of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Competitive Politics.
The organization calls itself the country’s largest organization dedicated solely to First Amendment political rights. In a May letter, it threatened that the state could be sued for ignoring the Supreme Court ruling.
The Supreme Court reasoned that giving a contribution to additional candidates, whether they’re the 10th or 14th candidate, “cannot be any more corrupting than giving to the prior nine or 13,” she said.
Charitable Planning: Another Front Opens in (c)(4) Controversy
The Center for Competitive Politics complaint cited Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) for similar efforts, which were focused specifically on Crossroads GPS, a group co-founded by former White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove.
As recounted in the complaint, Sen. Levin repeatedly asked the IRS whether Crossroads and certain other groups were under active investigation (see our earlier commentary), and was repeatedly told this information could not properly be disclosed. Sen. Durbin’s letter requesting an examination of Crossroads and other organizations apparently went unanswered, but a press release accompanying the letter was circulated among senior EO Division staff.
Amending the First Amendment
Roll Call: Senate Democrats Begin Efforts to Amend Constitution
This amendment “has no chance whatsoever of being adopted,” said Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine. “I think it’s more a matter of keeping the issue in the public eye and scoring political points than it is about actually changing the Constitution.”
Despite the unlikelihood of passage, the push has Republicans crying foul.
“This is an election year effort to try to silence people who our Democratic colleagues don’t agree with,” Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said.
Cornyn called the amendment “an outrage” and his fellow Judiciary Committee Republicans echoed his argument that Udall’s proposal limiting political spending also limits free speech.
Wall Street Journal (LTE): We Take Free Speech as a Given; Maybe We Shouldn’t
By Zach Epstein
Someone may want to tell that to Brendan Eich, who became the CEO of Mozilla on March 24 but didn’t even have an opportunity to get new business cards printed before a media firestorm forced him to step down. With this vehement public backlash, one would assume Mr. Eich was a runaway felon or had announced his idolization of Donald Sterling. But no, Mr. Eich’s skeletons are his political views, specifically his support of the traditional definition of marriage. Even more troubling, he never made a public comment about his political beliefs. Someone dug up his political donation records and discovered that he gave $1,000 to support Proposition 8.
This was six years ago, and political views change over time. Even President Obama’s view on gay marriage has evolved.Mr. Eich assured the public he wouldn’t allow his personal views into the workplace, and no Mozilla employees would be discriminated against, regardless of their sexual orientation. So why is it anyone else’s business what Mr. Eich’s personal beliefs are? After all, when Proposition 8 was voted on in 2008, 52% of the state agreed with him.
Independent Groups
Roll Call: Super PAC for Campaign Finance Reform Swallowed by Fat Cats (Updated)
By Kent Cooper
The PAC received large contributions from Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, including $150,000 from Reid Hoffman, co-founder of Linked-In; $150,000 from Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal; $250,000 from Chris Anderson, curator of TED; $100,000 from Brad Burnham, managing partner of Union Square Ventures; $100,000 from Fred Wilson, partner of Union Square Ventures and his wife, Joanne Wilson, angel investor, blogger, and co-founder of Women’s Entrepreneurial Festival; $250,000 from Vin Ryan, founder of Schooner Capital; and $100,000 from David Milner.
LA Times: Rove’s top campaign funding groups keep low profile in 2014 election
By Lisa Mascaro
The new stars of the dark money circuit are the billionaire Koch brothers, whose Americans for Prosperity has funneled a jaw-dropping $35 million so far into the midterm election cycle, much of it spent even before the first primary ballots were cast this spring.
Rove’s activity has paled by comparison. American Crossroads reported raising just $6 million in the first quarter of 2014, and both of Rove’s groups recently announced plans to spend $9.3 million on summer TV ads in four battleground states: Arkansas, Colorado, North Carolina and Alaska.
Candidates, Politicians, Campaigns, and Parties
AP: Indicted Utah businessman says he channeled his own $50K to US Sen. Mike Lee’s 2010 campaign
SALT LAKE CITY — Indicted businessman Jeremy Johnson admitted to state investigators that he funneled $50,000 of his own money in campaign contributions to U.S. Sen. Mike Lee’s successful 2010 Senate campaign, according to court documents made public Wednesday.
State and Local
Colorado –– AP: Hickenlooper film not exempt from disclosure rules
DENVER (AP) – Colorado election officials denied a petition from conservative group Citizens United to be exempt from financial reporting requirements for a documentary they’re making about Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper in the lead-up to his re-election bid.
