The Hill: Watchdogs: Perry team might have violated campaign finance laws

By Rachel Leven  Two watchdog groups Thursday called on the Federal Election Commission to look into possible infringements by Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry’s campaign and a pro-Perry super-PAC.   Make Us Great Again might have shared videos produced by the political action committee with the Perry campaign for free or might not have charged […]

FEC Deadlocks 3 to 3 on Petition Filed by Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) to Establish New Effective Contribution Disclosure Regulations for Outside Spending Groups

Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Today, the three Republican Commissioners on the six-member FEC have once again shown their disdain for the nation’s campaign finance laws they are supposed to implement and enforce. The three Republican Commissioners blocked an effort by Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) to initiate a rulemaking by the agency […]

FEC Complaint Filed Against Perry Campaign and Perry-Supporting Super PAC Urging Investigation of Shared Video Footage

Today the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 filed a complaint urging the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to investigate possible violations of campaign finance law by presidential candidate Rick Perry’s campaign committee, RickPerry.org, and the Perry-supporting Super PAC Make Us Great Again. Based on published media reports, the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 believe […]

Additional Evidence Provided to IRS to Show Groups Not Entitled to Claim 501(c)(4) Tax Status; Secretly-Funded Political Party Could Decide Outcome of Presidential Election

In a letter sent today to the IRS, Democracy 21, joined by the Campaign Legal Center, submitted additional information to the IRS to demonstrate that Americans Elect, the American Action Network and Crossroads GPS are not entitled to section 501(c)(4) tax status and therefore are not entitled to keep their donors secret on that basis. […]

Reform Groups Call on Senate Committee to Send the “STOCK Act” Tomorrow to the Senate Floor

Below is a letter sent by a coalition of reform groups including Democracy 21 to Chairman Joseph Lieberman and Ranking Member Susan Collins of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in support of the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act,” (STOCK Act). The letter called on the Committee to report the bill […]

Reform Groups to Republican House Leadership: Move the STOCK Act Forward; Prevent Congressional Insider Trading

Democracy 21 joined with other reform groups today in calling on the House Republican leadership to allow the House to act on the STOCK Act to prohibit insider trading by members of Congress. House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor reportedly forced House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Spencer Bachus to cancel a full committee markup […]

Teddy Roosevelt and his 1910 “New Nationalism” Speech, A Call to Arms Against Corporate Money in Federal Elections

Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Yesterday, President Barack Obama traveled to Osawatomie, Kansas to make a major speech on his economic policies. According to today’s Washington Post, President Obama went to Osawatomie to invoke Teddy Roosevelt and a speech he made there in 1910 that became known as Roosevelt’s “New Nationalism” speech. As […]

Democracy 21 Joins With Reform Groups in Call for Passage of the “STOCK” Act to End Congressional Insider Trading

Today, Democracy 21 joined with a coalition of reform groups in again calling for passage of the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act,” the “STOCK Act.” The groups sent a letter to the House and Senate calling for swift passage of the Act, designed to prevent Congressional insider trading. According to Democracy 21 President Fred […]

FEC Deadlocks on Advisory Opinion Request from American Crossroads, Provides No Support for Crossroads to Run “Fully Coordinated” Ads

In a 3 to 3 decision today, the FEC refused to give approval to the effort by American Crossroads to run ads “fully coordinated” with candidates and have the ads treated as ads that were not coordinated with the candidates under campaign finance laws. This means that if American Crossroads proceeds to run any ad […]