In the News
Lansing State Journal: State House committee warned in testimony on anonymous political ads
By Paul Egan
David Keating, president of the nonprofit Center for Competitive Politics in Alexandria, Va., testified in favor of the bill, saying it will protect free speech rights.
Unlike ads that expressly advocate for or against a candidate, issue ads “clearly can not be regulated,” Keating testified.
Independent Groups
Wall Street Journal: Business Groups Eye Expanded Role in Elections
The October government shutdown, however, may prove to be a tide-turning event. Business leaders openly pleaded with Congress to avoid a showdown over raising the nation’s debt ceiling—a fight they feared would disrupt financial markets world-wide—and urged lawmakers to avoid an economically destabilizing government shutdown. They were stunned to discover, though, that their pleas fell upon deaf ears among several dozen tea-party warriors in the House who steamed toward a shutdown anyway, and were in some cases openly disdainful of the business community’s arguments.
That experience hasn’t changed the business community’s traditional preference for Republicans over Democrats. But it has made business leaders care a lot more about which kind of Republicans they are investing in.
Washington Times: Issa: FBI impeding inquiry into IRS targeting of conservative groups
By Stephen Dinan
Mr. Issa, California Republican, and Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, are leading the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s IRS inquiry. They also said the FBI is refusing to turn over any documents related to its own investigation into the IRS, which began in the days after an auditor’s report revealed the tax agency had improperly targeted tea party groups for special scrutiny.
Six months after it began, the FBI’s investigation has resulted in no release of information. The congressmen said the FBI even rescinded an offer for an in-person briefing with the assistant director in charge of the investigation. The reversal, after the FBI consulted with the Justice Department, suggests political meddling, the two investigators said.
Womble Carlyle: Treasury and IRS Provide Thanksgiving Surprise: Proposed 501(c)(4) Political Activity Rules
The proposed rules raise many serious concerns. For example, candidate-related political activity could include conducting nonpartisan voter registration drives and distributing nonpartisan voter guides. Moreover, the proposed rules attribute to 501(c)(4) organizations, among other things, political activities conducted by their officers, directors or employees acting in that capacity. Unfortunately, the draft rules do not elaborate on the possible differences between conduct taken in an official capacity and personal political conduct by an officer, director or employee. Finally, many contributions from a 501(c)(4) to another tax-exempt organization would appear to qualify as candidate-related activity unless the contributor receives a written confirmation that the recipient does not engage in such activity and the contributor restricts the use of the contribution.
The proposed political activity rules also leave many important issues unaddressed. Under existing rules, 501(c)(4) entities must be “primarily” engaged in activities that promote the common good or social welfare. The proposed rules provide no guidance on what proportion of an organization’s activities must be dedicated to this purpose to qualify under section 501(c)(4). The proposed regulations also do not apply to entities that qualify under Section 501(c)(3) (charitable organizations), Section 501(c)(5) (labor unions), Section 501(c)(6) (trade associations), or Section 527 (political organizations). Treasury and the IRS are, however, accepting comments on the advisability of making changes in each of these areas. Interested persons may submit comments to the IRS by February 27, 2014.
The Guardian: ALEC facing funding crisis from donor exodus in wake of Trayvon Martin row
By Ed Pilkington and Suzanne Goldberg
The Guardian has learned that the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec), which shapes and promotes legislation at state level across the US, has identified more than 40 lapsed corporate members it wants to attract back into the fold under a scheme referred to in its documents as the “Prodigal Son Project”.
The target firms include commercial giants such as Amazon, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Kraft, McDonald’s and Walmart, all of which cut ties with the group following the furore over the killing of the unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida in February 2012.
Disclosure
WVTF: Campaign Finance Disclosure
By SANDY HAUSMAN
“If you’re the politician, and I’m the wealthy individual who wants to engage in a corrupt deal with you, we can’t sign a contract for obvious reasons. Illegal contracts are not enforceable, so we have to rely on trust. I have to be confident that if I give you the money, you’re going to deliver the vote later on,” says Gilbert.
Open records of campaign donations make that easy.
“If I can look at a long record of who has supported you and whether you’ve then done them some favors, I suddenly trust you a little bit more, and likewise if you can look at a disclosure record which reveals that I systematically support politicians who vote the ways I like, then suddenly you can trust me a little bit.”
Lobbying and Ethics
The Hill: Office of Congressional Ethics withstands controversies five years after its birth
By Mike Lillis
“There is no question in my mind that that committee can smear the reputation of members of Congress and do irreparable harm,” Rangel added. “I think that Republicans and Democrats would agree that their allegations are far more serious than the good that they do.”
State and Local
New York –– NY Daily News: NYS GOP Leader Ed Cox: Gov. Cuomo Engages In Pay-To-Play On Campaign Finance Reform
By KEN LOVETT
On May 13, George Soros made his last $250,000 donation. Jonathan Soros and the coalition of activists met with Cuomo 16 days later in the governor’s Albany office.
“It’s appalling that Governor Cuomo’s Democratic State Committee accepted campaign contributions from George Soros in an effort to get New York’s beleaguered taxpayers to publicly finance campaigns, which can only be described as welfare for politicians,” Cox said.
“With Gov. Cuomo having already corrupted his Moreland Commission by quashing subpoenas aimed at his donors, he is poised to corrupt it once more by demanding they include public financing of campaigns in their initial report,” he added, citing previous News’ reports that top Cuomo aides interfered with the commission.
