In the News
Independent Journal: The Left Screams That There’s Too Much Money In Politics, But They’re Forgetting One Major Thing…
Luke Wachob
As reality repeatedly contradicts the notion that democracy is for sale, the coalition advocating limits on free speech has begun to fracture. Organizations such as the Brookings Institution and the Brennan Center for Justice have started to recognize that some of the dysfunction in government is caused by the countless rules and regulations themselves. They are beginning to embrace some reforms that would make it easier, not harder, for people to support their preferred candidates and parties.
Others, such as those affiliated with the Democracy Spring, have decided they prefer the fantasy world they built in the wake of Citizens United. Their rhetoric leaves no room for discussion about what’s wrong with politics and how to fix it. You either are with “the people” or corrupted by “Big Money.” They urge their fellow citizens to join their cause and “get arrested to save democracy.”
These chicken littles are not trying to save anything. They are trying to create something new and unprecedented, by urging the government to play a larger role in regulating the funding of political speech than ever before. Worse, they are doing so in an inflammatory public protest that substitutes emotion for substance.
Washington Free Beacon: Dems on FEC Target Corporations in Attempt to ‘Blunt’ First Amendment
Joe Schoffstall
Allen Dickerson, the legal director of the Center for Competitive Politics, also expressed concern over Weintraub’s desire to “blunt” a First Amendment ruling.
“There are reasons to question the propriety of a federal officer attempting to ‘blunt’ a First Amendment ruling against her agency, and I am unaware of another federal entity whose commissioners routinely take to the pages of major newspapers to decry binding Supreme Court precedent,” Dickerson wrote in the Huffington Post. “But no matter how attractive you find her proposed ‘zero-tolerance standard,’ under which any corporation with even a single foreign shareholder could be barred from any political activity, her proposal relies on a number of fatal legal errors.”
Dickerson said Weintraub is essentially threatening public companies with enforcement actions to “force any corporation of significant size into complete silence.”
Washington Times: Political bias charges bounce off Kamala Harris amid Senate campaign in California
Valerie Richardson
This isn’t the first time Ms. Harris has faced charges of political bias. She joined other Democratic attorneys general last month who vowed to use their offices to target climate change “fraud,” shortly after she reportedly launched an investigation into Exxon Mobil Corp.
Her efforts to force nonprofit organizations to turn over to the state their lists of major donors prompted lawsuits in 2014 from right-of-center groups the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, the Center for Competitive Politics and the Thomas More Law Center.
Jack Pitney, political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, said the Harris investigations “raise legitimate questions about government power and free speech.”
Independent Groups
Associated Press: Outside groups deal themselves in for GOP delegate game
Julie Bykowicz
Our Principles, which is devoted to keeping Trump from winning, and super PACs backing Ted Cruz and John Kasich are spending their time and money researching the complex process of delegate selection and reaching out to those party insiders. Compared to earlier primary states like Florida, there have been few ads by outside groups on the air in New York, which holds its election Tuesday…
The hot pursuit of such low-profile people by outside groups is yet another unprecedented twist in a history-defying presidential primary season.
The delegate focus comes after the groups’ earlier efforts turned out to be money not particularly well spent. GOP-aligned groups spent at least $218 million on presidential television and radio ads, according to advertising tracker Kantar Media’s CMAG. In one example, last month Our Principles put $2.3 million into ads trying to persuade Florida voters to ditch Trump, but he won the state anyway.
NBC News: Wait, Isn’t Donald Trump Against Super PACs?
Cady Zuvich
Great America PAC formed in February, but under a different name: TRUMPAC.
Great America PAC is a “hybrid” political action committee, meaning that like a super PAC, it can raise and spend in unlimited amounts to advocate for or against candidates. But it also operates as a traditional PAC, collecting limited amounts of money that is sent directly to a candidate.
Hybrid PACs were born out of the 2011 federal court case Carey v. Federal Election Commission that opened the door for such groups to exist, so long as they keep separate bank accounts for the two activities.
And the treasurer of Great America PAC is Dan Backer, the conservative attorney who helped to make hybrid PACs possible.
Citizens United
Philadelphia Inquirer: What Hillary Clinton told The Inquirer
Q: we don’t know if Congress is going to pass any kind of tough disclosure or finance limit, but there are administrative techniques that you can use as president to rein in the influence of money in politics. Can you give us a sense of where you would start? What you would do, just as an executive?
A: Well first of all, I’m not going to give up on trying to change the campaign finance system because the real threat to our democracy is Citizens United. And I’m sure you know Citizens United was another right-wing attack on me. They were going after me with, you know, some phony documentaries, making up more ridiculous allegations about me and they were told they could not run it close to an election. I believe it was in Wisconsin. And the Wisconsin law basically said, no, no, you can’t, and refused it. So they sued. And the Supreme Court wrongly, in my opinion, equated speech with money. So I have said from the very earliest days of this campaign I have a personal commitment to reversing Citizens United.
Dangers of Disclosure
Reason: Mass Surveillance Has a “Chilling Effect” on Online Expression
Anthony L. Fisher
Turns out people who believe they have “nothing to hide” hold back more than anyone else when it comes to expressing “minority” opinions on social media.
A study published in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, titled “Under Surveillance: Examining Facebook’s Spiral of Silence Effects in the Wake of NSA Monitoring” theorizes, “knowing one is subject to surveillance and accepting such surveillance as necessary act as moderating agents in the relationship between one’s perceived climate of opinion and willingness to voice opinions online.”
Influence
Denver Post: Colorado Democrats admit mistake that cost Bernie Sanders key delegate
John Frank
Bernie Sanders won one more delegate in Colorado than first projected after the Colorado Democratic Party admitted this week that it misreported the March 1 caucus results from 10 precinct locations.
The party discovered the discrepancy a week after the caucus but did not correct the public record.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign discussed the error with state party officials last week, but the Sanders campaign apparently didn’t realize the issue until being informed Monday evening by The Denver Post.
Activism
Rolling Stone: Why Thousands of Americans Are Lining Up to Get Arrested in D.C. This Week
Ben Wofford
Chanting, “Money ain’t speech, corporations aren’t people!” and “We are the 99 percent!” around 425 protesters were arrested Monday in a mass sit-in on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., and more have returned to face arrest Tuesday. The demonstration, called Democracy Spring, is advocating a set of reforms the organizers have dubbed the “democracy movement,” demanding Congress amend campaign finance laws and restore the Voting Rights Act, among other actions.
Candidates and Campaigns
The Hill: Sanders fundraising for 3 House candidates
Lisa Hagen
On Wednesday, an MSNBC reporter noted that the Vermont senator emailed supporters asking for donations to help the bids of Zephyr Teachout in New York, Pramila Jayapal in Washington and Lucy Flores in Nevada.
“When we talk about a political revolution, we also need to have people in Congress who aren’t beholden to special interests,” Sanders wrote in an email, according to the Journal.
All three congressional candidates have endorsed Sanders for president over Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
The States
Arizona Republic: Bid launched to curb big money in Arizona campaigns
Mary Jo Pitzl
A ballot measure filed Tuesday would give Arizona’s public campaign-finance system more financial muscle while curtailing private campaign donations in an effort to reduce the influence of money on elections.
The Clean and Accountable Elections Act is designed to make state elections more transparent and reduce corruption, said Samantha Pstross, executive director of the Arizona Advocacy Network. The group, which pushes for reforms in election and campaign law, is the prime sponsor of the measure, which it hopes to put before voters in November.
Supporters need the signatures of 150,642 registered voters by July 7 to qualify for the November election.
The wide-ranging act also would erase portions of the “dark money” bill Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law last month, require full disclosure of dark-money contributions of more than $1,000, and require lawmakers to disclose all gifts, travel and meals they receive.
Alaska Dispatch News: Judge hears arguments as GOP supporters try to loosen campaign donation limits
Alex DeMarban
The lawsuit against the state — brought by three supporters of Republican candidates and an Anchorage Republican district committee — has its roots in recent federal cases that have equated free speech with campaign contributions.
The Alaska Republican Party District 18 in Anchorage and the three individual plaintiffs want U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess to strike down annual limits on contributions from political parties and nonresidents, as well as the $500 annual limit that individuals can make to candidates and to groups other than political parties.
The trial is set to begin April 25 in Anchorage.
The plaintiffs’ arguments are based on key federal decisions in recent years, including the 2010 Citizens United decision that invalidated limits on corporate and union spending and the 2014 McCutcheon case that struck down a $120,000 limit on individuals’ total contributions to candidates and political parties during two-year election cycles.
Charleston Post and Courier: Senate moves income disclosure bill into priority spot
Maya Prabhu
For four years, those seeking ethics reform have sought to implement reforms addressing independent investigations, income disclosure and disclosure of funds spent by outside groups on campaign materials — commonly referred to as “dark money.” There is a separate bill pending in the Senate that addresses third-party campaign spending.
Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, said he intends to address the issue of dark money this session.
“We, for the good of our state, have got to put a stop to this rather than let it continue,” Leatherman said. “I would hope that we senators would come to our senses and say no longer, no longer will the state of South Carolina allow outside money to come in here to try to influence the outcome of our elections.”
