On Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. groups representing more than 30 organizations will hold a press conference on Capitol Hill in support of a draft White House executive order to require disclosure of secret political spending by government contractors. The organizations are urging President Obama to promptly sign the executive order and will […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Last week, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), joined by 25 of their Senate Republican colleagues, sent a letter to President Obama urging him not to issue a proposed Executive Order that would require government contractors to disclose their campaign finance activities to […]
Bill Burton, former White House deputy press secretary to President Obama and Sean Sweeney a former top aide of previous White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have announced the creation of two new groups, Priorities USA, a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt group and Priorities USA Action, a section 527 political organization. The two groups clearly have […]
In a New York Times article today, Chamber of Commerce lobbyist R. Bruce Josten is quoted as saying that an Executive Order being considered by the White House to require government contractors to disclose their campaign finance activities "is meant to have a chilling effect." According to the article, "Mr. Josten said that the order […]
Successful Court Challenge by Representative Van Hollen Would Provide Disclosure in Future Elections of Secret Contributions Funding Electioneering CommunicationsBy Non-profit Groups and Others Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) filed a lawsuit today against the Federal Election Commission challenging as contrary to law an FEC regulation that has improperly allowed nonprofit 501(c)(4) advocacy groups, 501(c)(6) business […]
By Dan Eggen The first sign that the ground had shifted in political fundraising came last year, when conservative groups quickly took advantage of new court rulings to dramatically outspend their liberal rivals. Now comes the next tremor, as Democratic activists finalize plans for an entirely new political infrastructure in 2012. A network of liberal […]
The Supreme Court finds a cause worth fighting for. By Dahlia Lithwick There are probably only about 10 guys in America who are cheerfully unconcerned about the influence of multimillionaires on elections. One of them is Charles Koch. David Koch is another, as is Karl Rove. Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and the guy with […]
By: Fred Wertheimer President, Democracy 21 For the second time in less than a year the Supreme Court has rejected a challenge brought by the RNC to the federal campaign finance laws and to past Supreme Court rulings. In Cao v. FEC, the Supreme Court yesterday denied a certiorari petition to review the case and […]
By Kenneth P. Vogel Not satisfied by the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that opened the floodgates to corporate-sponsored election ads, conservative opponents of campaign finance regulations have opened up a series of new legal fronts in their effort to eliminate the remaining laws restricting the flow of money into politics. They have taken to Congress, […]
By Fred WertheimerPresident, Democracy 21 On March 28 the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in McComish v. Bennett, a case involving a challenge to the constitutionality of the Arizona public financing law. This will be the first time the Court has heard a challenge to the constitutionality of public financing of elections since it […]
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