In the News
Senate Hearing: “Current Issues in Campaign Finance Law Enforcement”
Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and TerrorismTime: 10:00 AM Room: Dirksen 226CCP Chairman Bradley A. Smith will be testifying on the second panel
CS Monitor: Shareholders ask firms: What are your politics?
By G. Jeffrey MacDonaldA company’s political activity “has nothing to do with the value of its underlying assets,” which are stockholders’ core concern, says Allen Dickerson, legal director at the Center for Competitive Politics, a Washington-based nonprofit that advocates for First Amendment rights. “I don’t understand how it’s good for the country or good for shareholders to turn the annual meeting into a partisan trench war every year.”
CCP
CCP Chairman Bradley Smith Testifies Tomorrow Before Senate Judiciary Subcommittee about Campaign Finance Law Enforcement
By Sarah LeeALEXANDRIA, Va. — Tomorrow morning, CCP Founder and former FEC Chairman Bradley Smith will testify before the the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, as part of a hearing on “Current Issues in Campaign Finance Law Enforcement.” The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Candidates, Politicians and Parties
Time: Clinton Insiders: Hillary Needs $100 Million
By Zeke J MillerNow, Clinton backers and Democratic operatives agree she or allies would need to raise multiples of that figure to clear the field of serious challengers in 2016 — and a year earlier. More than a half-dozen senior Democratic officials and Hillary confidants puts the goal at roughly $100 million by the end of 2014, a marker no other Democrat could approach so soon.“We’ve learned our lesson,” said the Clinton insider.
Lobbying and Ethics
NY Times: Tax Lobby Builds Ties to Chairman of Finance Panel
By Eric LiptonTo make their case as Congress prepares to debate a rewrite of the nation’s tax code, this diverse set of businesses has at least one strategy in common: they have retained firms that employ lobbyists who are former aides to Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which will have a crucial role in shaping any legislation.
FEC
Politico: Dan Winslow pushes FEC on gay marriage
By Kenneth P. VogelDan Winslow, a state representative casting himself as the moderate choice in the April 30 GOP primary for John Kerry’s Senate seat, on Friday filed a request with the regulatory agency asking it to treat married gay couples’ contributions the same way it treats those from married straight couples.
State and Local
New Jersey –– The Star-Ledger: Super PAC sues N.J. over contribution limits
By Matt FriedmanTRENTON — A Washington DC “super PAC” has sued New Jersey’s campaign finance watchdog agency, saying the state can’t limit how much it can raise from an individual donor.The Fund for Jobs and Growth filed the complaint against the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) in federal district court on Friday.The group, organized under Section 527 of the IRS code, plans to make independent expenditures on behalf of Democratic state legislative candidates in this year’s election. It argues that under the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, it’s unconstitutional to limit how much money it can raise from an individual donor.
New Jersey –– The Star-Ledger: Donors behind millions in N.J. political contributions kept secret, analysis finds
By Christopher BaxterTRENTON — Politicians in New Jersey can receive more money while still keeping the names of their donors secret than those in any other state in the nation, masking the origins of millions of dollars in campaign contributions every year, a Star-Ledger analysis has found.
New York –– NY Times: Outside Group Invests in Effort to Block Quinn’s Mayoral Campaign
By DAVID W. CHEN“This ad is paid for by a special-interest group, with strong connections to Bill de Blasio, working to circumvent the New York City campaign finance system,” Mr. Morey said. “If Bill de Blasio is the progressive he claims to be, then he should oppose this effort to undermine the most progressive campaign finance system in the country.”A de Blasio campaign spokesman, Dan Levitan, said the campaign had not known of the spot until a reporter asked about it late Sunday, and he commented: “Nothing undermined our democratic system more than when Speaker Quinn overturned term limits and let Mayor Bloomberg spend $100 million buying four more years.”
