In the News
New York State Senate: New York State Senate Public Hearing on Elections
NY Daily News: Senate Hearing On NYC Campaign Finance System Goes Out The Window
By GLENN BLAINDavid Keating, president of the Virginia-based Center for Competitive Politics, urged senators to reject public financing schemes like the one used in New York City, arguing it would only put more taxpayer money in the hands of corrupt politicians.
Times Union: Protesters shut out of election finance hearing pitch dollar bills
By Jimmy Vielkind“There’s no evidence that any of this works,” said David Keating, president of the CCP, an organization funded by several prolific Republican donors. “If the worry is corruption, why would you want to give more state tax dollars to corrupt politicians? … This is like providing whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.”
WNYT: State Senate public hearing on campaign finance reform creates controversy
By Bill Lambdin“There’s no evidence that any of this (public campaign financing) works,” said David Keating. “There’s no evidence that it reduces corruption.”Keating criticized New York City’s campaign financing system, which can provide six dollars of taxpayer money for every one dollar a candidate raises.
Examiner: Colorado Supreme Court hears 1st Amendment challenge to campaign finance laws
By Matt ArnoldThe Colorado Supreme Court hears arguments tomorrow (Weds, 8 May 2013) in a 1st Amendment challenge to the state’s campaign finance laws (pursuant to a request to clarify the “scope & meaning” of Colorado campaign finance laws in an order issued by a Federal judge late last year).
Politico: South Carolina: Democrats learn big money doesn’t buy happiness
By Byron Tau“There’s always that tendency to think that the other side’s money is unfair,” said Brad Smith, a former Federal Election Commission official and the founder of the group Center for Competitive Politics. “When they’ve got a spending advantage that seems fine to them,” he said, adding, “I don’t think that’s unique to Democrats.”
CCP
Are shareholders demanding more corporate disclosure? Proxy results continue to say “No.”
By Brad SmithAs campaign finance activists and Democratic Party shills continue to urge the SEC to involve itself in campaign finance – in this case by requiring corporations to disclose publicly their trade association dues, contributions to 501(c) organizations, and all other expenditures that might at some point end up supporting the corporation’s political interests, one argument we hear a lot is that “corporate shareholders have been demanding this information.” Unfortunately for the disclosuremaniacs, the corporate shareholders keep refuting this argument with their actual votes.
CCP Presents Oral Arguments in Free Speech Case
By Sarah LeeDickerson will argue that these questions should be answered so as to exclude CSG’s activities from the state’s regulation of “issue committees.” Co-counsel Tyler Martinez noted that “because the Supreme Court agreed to answer the federal judge’s questions, we hope that it intends to provide clear guidance to CSG.”
CCP Study Used to Counter Public Financing Push in New York State
By Sarah Lee“While proponents of so-called ‘clean elections’ proposals tout these programs as a panacea for eliminating corruption and ‘fixing government,’ the experience of three states with similar versions of these programs as well as New York City’s own program is very telling,” Keating writes. “Since the inception of taxpayer financing programs, much research has been devoted to assessing whether these schemes truly realize the many claims made by their proponents or result in better government. In short, there is no evidence to support these claims. These programs have failed to live up to their lofty expectations, while wasting precious taxpayer dollars, and forcing citizens to subsidize the candidacies of individuals with which they may disagree on many issues.”
Corporate Governance
PBS News Hour: SEC Considering New Rule for Political Contributions by Public Companies
We’re joined by Robert J. Jackson Jr., a Columbia University law school professor who helped write the original petition, and Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner. He’s the chief executive of Patomak Global Partners, a financial services consulting firm.
Disclosure
National Review: The DISCLOSE Act Would Turn Transparency into a Political Weapon
By John FundThere is a fine line between requiring transparency in politics and creating opportunities for politically minded people and groups to be intimidated into silence. A new effort by two senators, Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon and Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, is in danger of crossing that line — to the detriment of political free-speech rights.
State and Local
Alabama –– Associated Press: New system will allow voters to search campaign finance reports
The Alabama secretary of state’s office plans to launch a searchable online database of campaign donations by the end of May. It will replace the old system of candidates filing paper documents with the secretary of state, and then the secretary’s staff scanning them for display on the office’s website. The new system will premier in time for the start of fundraising for the 2014 elections.
