CCP
Shareholders make their views known: they don’t want mandatory disclosure of political activity
By Brad Smith…The reality is that the ongoing proxy season demonstrates once again that shareholders do not demand this immaterial information, and seem to understand that it is not being sought for their own best interests. These proposals, when actually put to shareholder votes, go down to defeat almost every time, and this proxy season is no different. Here are the results so far during this year’s proxy season. Every measure has been defeated. We’ve listed the percentage of “yes” votes, along with the date and the initiator of the resolution…
Media Watch: Unethical attack by CREW’s Melanie Sloan
By David Keating“Why is this unethical? Simple. The quote is taken out of context and anyone who found the quote knows better. It was reported in the Open Secrets blog in 2011 by Michael Beckel, who gave the context: “McGahn’s admission of ‘guilt,’ however, came with a catch: He argued that it wasn’t his job to enforce this law as Congress passed it. Instead, he said, the commission’s job was to enforce the law as it’s been upheld by the judicial branch of government.”As Brad Smith noted in 2011 about the speech, “McGahn confessed that, when the Federal Election Campaign Act and the Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, are in conflict, he sides with the latter. Specifically, Commissioner McGahn stated bluntly, ‘I’m not enforcing the law as Congress passed it.’”A group that calls itself Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ought to take more responsibility for its own ethics. Shame on you Melanie Sloan.
In the News
Sunlight Foundation: New appointees are long overdue but is the FEC broken?
By Keenan SteinerPanelists who advocate for less campaign finance regulation, agreed with that sentiment. Brad Smith, a former FEC Commissioner and chairman of the Center for Competitive Politics, said there are “disagreements among the commission about where the law actually is.”Eric Wang, a former staffer for Republican FEC Commissioner Caroline Hunter who now working for Americans for Prosperity, one of the political non-profits that have benefitted from the looser campaign finance regulations following the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United, argued that the FEC’s critics are sore losers. “What the complaints are really about are the failure by the commission to go in lockstep with the radical regulatory agenda of the so-called reform community,” Wang said.
Corporate Governance
USA Today: SEC should reject partisan ploy
By Paul AtkinsHaving failed to get Congress to require these disclosures in 2010, activists are now targeting the SEC. One problem: The SEC lacks the authority to require disclosure of information that is not material.This means that the information must be important to economic investment decision-making by a reasonable investor — not an investor with a narrow political bent or one who thinks it would be “nice to know” some relatively insignificant fact. Otherwise, disclosure of data is potentially limitless. For virtually every company, these public policy expenditures to defend the interests of their shareholders would be insignificant compared with revenue or expenses; if they were material, SEC rules already require disclosure.
Independent Groups
CPI: Environmentalists boost ally in Massachusetts special election
By Michael BeckelOverall, groups reported spending roughly $2 million to advocate for or against the candidates, according to the Center’s analysis. Nearly 90 percent of the expenditures supported Markey or opposed Lynch.The spending came despite a “people’s pledge” between Markey and Lynch designed to limit the amount of involvement by deep-pocketed independent groups that have proliferated in the wake of the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling.
NY Times: Koch Brothers Plan More Political Involvement for Their Conservative Network
By NICHOLAS CONFESSOREWhile awaiting an internal audit headed by a top Koch Industries executive, the brothers have rejected any notion of stepping back from electoral politics. Strikingly, after years of nurturing a political network and donor base largely independent from traditional Republican circles, the Kochs are planning to substantially increase their involvement in party affairs.
Candidates, Politicians and Parties
Washington Post: Wonkbook: The hopey-changey thing isn’t working out so well
By Ezra Klein and Evan SoltasThis is a White House that has little interest in quixotic causes. And campaign-finance reform is, at the moment, nothing if not a quixotic cause. With Republicans in control of the House and in possession of the filibuster in the Senate, big money is in no danger of being banished from American politics.
Lobbying and Ethics
The Atlantic: The case against cronies: Libertarians must stand up to corporate greed
By Timothy CarneyIt is these arrangements — in which the industry loses, but one company wins, or a few big companies win — that free-marketeers should pay more attention to.
FEC
Politico: No vote of confidence for FEC
By Melanie Sloan…McGahn is particularly aggressive in politicizing the agency, seemingly attempting to render it impotent. He has said the job of an FEC commissioner is to make sure his political party’s interests “are taken care of” and has boasted, “I’m not enforcing the law as Congress passed it. … I plead guilty as charged.” Yet enforcement of our campaign finance laws is critical to instilling confidence in the integrity of public officials and federal elections….…The White House should be working with campaign finance reform advocates to nominate a full slate of nonpartisan, no-nonsense candidates to the commission, and the Senate should vote on them. During his first campaign, the president famously stated, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” What are we waiting for now?
Huffington Post: FEC Commissioners All Serving Expired Terms Now
By Paul BlumenthalFEC Commissioner Caroline Hunter’s term expired on Tuesday. Until their replacements are confirmed by the Senate, FEC commissioners are permitted to stay on. Former Commissioner Cynthia Bauerly resigned her post in February long after her own term had expired.
State and Local
California –– LA Times: State campaign finance data should be downloadable
By Jon HealeyCalifornia Secretary of State Debra Bowen is resisting a push by activists and journalists for better disclosure of campaign finance data, arguing in essence that it would cost too much to comply. It’s a surprising stance from Bowen, whose office has fought to make more information about donors available to California voters.
