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 […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

House Republicans, pandering to the new corporate money trough legitimized by the Supreme Court, have voted to kill off public financing for presidential elections. Unless the Senate Democratic majority acts forcefully, the death of the public alternative – first adopted in the wake of the Watergate scandal – could be sealed in the rounds of […]