By Paul Blumenthal WASHINGTON — In the span of a week in September, two independent political committees announced unheard-of fundraising plans for the coming campaign season. The Karl Rove-linked American Crossroads, along with its sister nonprofit, Crossroads GPS, announced a plan to raise and spend $240 million in 2012. Make Us Great Again, a group […]
Americans for Campaign Reform – Brennan Center for Justice – Campaign Legal Center Common Cause – CREW – Democracy 21League of Women Voters – People For the American Way – Public Citizen – U.S. PIRG September 12, 2011 The Honorable Richard Durbin, ChairmanSenate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General GovernmentU.S. SenateWashington, D.C. 20510 Dear Chairman […]
How Super PACs are overpowering candidate campaigns and changing the consulting biz…. by Josh Boak Faster than a speeding teleprompter, more powerful than a joint endorsement from the ghosts of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, able to leap media markets in a single ad buy. OK, maybe not. But the era of Super […]
By Peter H. Stone American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS have set a new fundraising goal at least twice the $120 million announced earlier this year. The ambitious fundraising target by the two affiliated groups co-founded by GOP fundraiser extraordinaire Karl Rove reflects an increased optimism among Republicans that they could score a trifecta in 2012—taking […]
September 7, 2011 Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., ChairmanHonorable Robert C. Scott, Ranking MemberHouse Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland SecurityWashington, DC 20510 Re: H.R. 2572, the “Clean Up Government Act of 2011” Sent Via Fax Dear Reps. Sensenbrenner and Scott: Today our organizations write to strongly endorse and call for swift committee […]
By Dan Eggen Until this month, Steven C. Roche was one of Mitt Romney’s most trusted advisers, helping the former Massachusetts governor raise tens of millions of dollars in his long quest for the White House. Now Roche has jumped ship to Restore Our Future, a “super PAC” dedicated to helping Romney win the presidency by […]
Below is a piece by Peter H. Stone from today’s iWatch News at the Center for Public Integrity entitled, "Romney fundraiser jumps from campaign to Super PAC." According to Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer: Presidential candidate Super PACs are simply a vehicle for massive circumvention of the limits on contributions to presidential candidates. Central to […]
Allies of President Obama and a slew of Republican hopefuls are taking advantage of loose campaign-finance laws, a toothless Federal Election Commission and a 2010 Supreme Court decision that equated big money with free speech. The result? A system that Ohio political boss Mark Hanna would have loved in the wild,anything-goes campaign days of the 1890s. Among the system’s newest […]
Below is a memo sent today to reform groups from Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer, asking them to endorse a national effort led by Howard Schultz to boycott federal campaign donations until the nations’ fiscal and economic problems are addressed. Also below is a letter sent today by Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, to all […]
Enclosed is a column by Joe Nocera from today’s New York Times entitled, "Boycott Campaign Donations!" The column describes a proposal by Howard Schultz, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks, to boycott campaign donations to federal officeholders until they seriously address the nation’s fiscal and economic problems. "Democracy 21 wholeheartedly supports the Schultz proposal to boycott campaign […]
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