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By Fred Wertheimer President, Democracy 21 On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court in a misguided and destructive decision ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that the longstanding ban on corporate expenditures in federal campaigns was unconstitutional. In reaching this decision, the Court unleashed a flood of unlimited contributions into federal elections through […]
Super PACs supporting presidential candidates continue to take in six- and seven-figure contributions from individuals who also have given the legal maximum to the candidate’s campaign committee. During 2011, the super PAC supporting GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney pulled in contributions from 172 individuals who also gave the legal maximum to Romney’s campaign — […]
By Rachel Leven A campaign finance watchdog is calling on the Justice Department to look into possible campaign finance law violations by presidential candidate Rick Santorum and a pro-Santorum super-PAC. Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday recommending an investigation into the Red, White and Blue Fund’s interactions with […]
Enclosed for your information is a letter sent by reform groups today to all House members, urging Representatives to support and co-sponsor the DISCLOSE 2012 Act, H.R. 4010. The reform groups include: Americans for Campaign Finance Reform, the Brennan Center for Justice, the Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Common Cause, […]
In a letter sent today to Attorney General Eric Holder, Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer requested an investigation “by the Justice Department into whether the candidate-specific Super PACs associated with President Obama and presidential candidate Mitt Romney are engaged in massive violations of the campaign finance laws.” “Democracy 21 believes that the Super PACs supporting […]
Imagine if each of the vicious attack ads staining the presidential campaign had to name the five biggest donors paying for the propaganda, and end with an “I approved this ad” statement from the attack group’s chief operative. This thin ray of sunlight is at the heart of a new House proposal to repair some […]
Introduced by Representative Chris Van Hollen The DISCLOSE 2012 Act requires any “covered organization” which spends $10,000 or more on a “campaign-related disbursement” to file a disclosure report with the Federal Election Commission within 24 hours of the expenditure, and to file a new report for each additional $10,000 or more that is spent. The […]
Democracy 21 applauds Representative Chris Van Hollen for taking the lead again in proposing new disclosure legislation to close gaping loopholes in the campaign finance disclosure laws which allowed more than $135 million in secret contributions to be spent by tax-exempt groups to influence the 2010 congressional races. The loopholes have occurred as a result […]
Based on recent published reports, we believe that both the Super PAC supporting Mitt Romney, Restore our Future, and the Super PAC supporting President Barack Obama, Priorities USA Action, are illegal operations. Democracy 21 wrote to the Justice Department twice last month expressing our concerns about the serious legal questions that exist regarding the presidential […]
By Fred Wertheimer The Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in the Citizens United case has done enormous damage to our political system. In striking down the ban on expenditures by corporations in elections, the high court, along with subsequent lower court decisions, has opened the door wide for the super rich, corporations and other groups to […]
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