In the News
CQ: Hazy IRS Criteria Determine Status
By Eliza Newlin Carney“To me, the big concern is that the proliferation of these political 501(c)(4)s will lead to a backlash in which people do demand more and more information, such as member lists,” said Bradley A. Smith, another former FEC chairman and cofounder of the Center for Competitive Politics, which favors less regulation. “I think that would be a bad thing.”
CCP
ALEC has Moyers Working Hard
By Sarah LeePerhaps it’s the use of the word “conservative” that is so terrifying to Moyers and Common Cause. However, despite the best efforts of Eric Posner of Slate Magazine to convince us otherwise, the First Amendment is still revered and sacrosanct and does allow for differences of opinion.
Independent groups
Missoulian: Citizens United decision affecting states’ uniqueness, speakers at UM say
By Gwen FlorioGiven such variety among all the states, professor William Marshall of the University of North Carolina School of Law wondered, why should campaign finance laws apply uniformly?
Roll Call: Super PAC Assails Super PACs, Big Money
By Eliza Newlin CarneyIn the latest example of do-gooders using big money to fight big money, a super PAC is advising candidates how to rebuff super PAC attacks and how to score political points by assailing unrestricted campaign spending.
USNWR: Super Secrets of the Political Nonprofits
By Seth ClineIn this first presidential election of the Citizens United era, spending by outside groups has gone through the roof, as expected. Less expected has been the rise of political 501(c) groups, super PACs’ more secretive cousins. These groups organize under the nonprofit section of the federal tax code, which affords them tax-exempt status and the ability to hide millions of dollars of donations and political spending from the public.
SCOTUS/Judiciary
NY Times: Potus v. Scotus
By GARRETT EPPSThe Oct. 22, 2007, cover of Time magazine displayed a portrait of Chief Justice John Roberts above the line does the supreme court still matter? “As the dust rises and the opinions, concurrences and dissents pile up, the court turns its attention to ever smaller cases related to ever narrower points of law,” David Von Drehle lamented in the accompanying article. “The court’s ideology is playing a dwindling role in the lives of Americans.”
Candidates and parties
NY Times: 2 Democrats, 2 Incumbents and One Tough House Race
By IAN LOVETTIn the high-priced and closely watched race between two incumbent Democrats — set against each other by redistricting and by a new state law that pits the top two primary finishers against each other, regardless of party — nearly the entire California Democratic establishment has lined up behind Mr. Berman. So has the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona. So has The Los Angeles Times.
NY Times: Obama Fills in Blanks of Romney’s Plans, and G.O.P. Sees Falsehoods
By MICHAEL COOPERIn making such assertions, the Obama campaign is taking advantage of the many unknown details of Mr. Romney’s policy proposals by filling in the blanks in the least flattering light, often relying on the findings of research organizations. In doing so, the campaign has leveled some charges that are more specific than the known facts warrant and others that are most likely wrong — though Mr. Romney’s decision not to provide more detailed explanations of his Medicare and tax proposals has made it difficult to provide a fuller evaluation of some of the competing assertions.
Lobbying and ethics
The Hill: Watchdog groups prod Boehner, Pelosi to fill spots on ethics board
By Jordy YagerFour of the six board members of the outside ethics panel will no longer be eligible to serve on the OCE in 2013 because of term limits. Good government groups are worried that if House leaders don’t move to replace them soon, the OCE won’t be able to carry out its mission and investigate allegations against lawmakers and staff.
Bloomberg: Goldman Settlement Shows Bankers Still Paying to Play
By Michael McDonald“Pay-to-play is an inevitable consequence of bankers seeking lucrative fees controlled by politicians,” said Joseph Franco, a law professor at Suffolk University in Boston and former assistant general counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “Firms create incentive structures for their bankers that fuel this sort of conduct.”
