In the News
Politico: Report: ‘Bright Lines’ suggestions fall short for nonprofit-IRS oversight
By Lauren FrenchThe Center for Competitive Politics is out with a new analysis heavily criticizing proposed reforms from the Public Citizen changing how the IRS deals with political nonprofits. Released just weeks after the IRS targeting scandal broke, the Public Citizen report suggests changing the rules that govern how nonprofits can speak about issues and candidates running for public office — suggestions that do not go far enough for Center for Competitive Politics. The center accused the Public Citizen reforms of having a “chilling” effect on free speech and failing to separate nonprofit reviews for political activity from the IRS.
Huffington Post Live: The Dysfunctional FEC
The Federal Election Commission was created to rein in the era of Nixon excesses, but critics say its members and partisanship have rendered it useless. What happened to the FEC’s oversight and how can it get back to its roots and back to work?
CCP
Lots of Hope but Little Evidence at D.C. City Council Hearing
By Luke WachobOn Thursday, July 11, the D.C. City Council Committee on Government Operations held a public roundtable on the feasibility of implementing taxpayer-funded campaigns for City Council elections in the District. Testimony was offered from policymakers and advocates from taxpayer-funded systems (in Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, and New York City), local D.C. groups and citizens, national advocacy groups for “clean elections,” and the Center for Competitive Politics. While the vast majority of testimony favored taxpayer funding of political campaigns, advocates for these systems couldn’t seem to agree on what exactly their reasoning was.The newfound interest in taxpayer-funded campaigns for City Council in D.C. is surely the result of the recent corruption scandals to hit the district. Three city council members have resigned since 2012 due to corruption charges: Harry Thomas for embezzlement of public funds, Kwame Brown for bank fraud and misuse of campaign funds, and Michael A. Brown for a pay-to-play scandal. As the Center’s testimony and others pointed out, none of these crimes would’ve been prevented by a taxpayer-funded system for City Council elections. This disconnect between the corruption problem the Council is ostensibly trying to address and the unrelated (and misguided) policy of taxpayer funding for political campaigns doomed the hearing to being little more than a merry-go-round of “reformers’” vague hopes and dreams.
Candidates, Politicians, Campaigns, and Parties
Politico: Harry Reid-Mitch McConnell relationship hits new low
By MANU RAJU and JOHN BRESNAHANThe enmity manifested itself in a private confrontation on the Senate floor last month in which McConnell needled Reid over a super PAC — run by the Senate majority leader’s former aides — that attacked the GOP leader over the Kentucky airwaves.
FEC
Soft Money Hard Law: The Republican Party and the Federal Election Commission At the Present Time
By Bob BauerTo accept that this is an unattractive portrait of the FEC—that this is not a model of constructive regulatory exertion even on difficult issues—is not to say that the picture is complete. The FEC has found the going rough for years, as the Globe noted: “stalled from the start,” in the words of an early Common Cause critique. If what was once a stall has developed into flaming breakdown, the explanation must rest on more than the obduracy since 2008 of Don McGahn and his colleagues. The Globe makes a light pass on other factors but they remain in the background, diminished and incomplete.Any more complete account of how the FEC came to this angry and unproductive juncture would have to look to the broader circumstances in which McGahn and his current colleagues took their posts at the FEC. The times may not have made Don McGahn, but in his party, he is a man of his times.
The Atlantic: This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Elections: The Dysfunctional FEC
By David GrahamWhat’s happening is that — as McGahn more or less openly admits — McGahn’s agenda at the FEC is to prevent it from doing much of anything. If you think that elections are way overregulated, you’ll like that. If you think they’re under-regulated, you’ll be horrified. But it’s hard to argue that the FEC is operating as intended under the authorizing legislation, a point former Rep. William Frenzel, who helped write the law, makes in the Globe story.
State and Local
District of Columbia –– Washington Times: D.C. ethics board censures, fines Marion Barry
By Andrea NobleThe District’s ethics board censured and fined D.C. Council member Marion Barry on Thursday for failing to disclose gifts he received from city contractors.The Board of Ethics and Government Accountability imposed a $13,600 penalty on Mr. Barry, Ward 8 Democrat, for accepting gifts from prohibited sources.
New York –– Wall Street Journal: Christine Quinn Trips Are Subject of New York City Campaign Finance Board Complaint
By Michael Howard SaulRecords filed with the Campaign Finance Board show Ms. Quinn’s mayoral campaign accrued more than $20,000 in contributions from dozens of donors in those cities around the same time as the PAC’s events. On at least one of these trips, Ms. Quinn attended a fundraising event for the Victory Fund and a separate fundraising event for her mayoral campaign.
Ohio –– The Plain Dealer: Cuyahoga County Council rejects proposed campaign finance amendment
By Laura Johnston“I have not found an example of where there were shenanigans with campaign contributions that would justify moving something like this forward,” said Councilman Mike Gallagher, a Republican. “To me the checks and balances are there.”
Oregon –– The Oregonian: Oregon’s political contribution tax credit: No longer for the rich
By Brent HunsbergerBeginning the 2014 tax year, that credit goes away for singles with adjusted gross incomes above $100,000 and joint filers above $200,000. The Oregonian editorial board, on which It’s Only Money does not sit, recommended this credit be done away with entirely.
Virginia –– Washington Post: Who had the worst week in Washington? Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.
By Chris CillizzaOh, Bob. Bob, Bob, Bob.Remember those days when everyone talked about Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell as the next big thing in national Republican politics? Those times when pundits — including this one — put him on the 2012 vice presidential short list the minute he was elected in 2009?
