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The 1974 Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), enacted in response to the Watergate scandal, fundamentally reformed the rules governing campaign financing in federal elections. The hallmark of this legislation was the creation of a voluntary program of public financing for presidential elections. This innovative reform, which stands to this day as the flagship of public […]
By: Fred Wertheimer On January 21, 2010, one year ago tomorrow, five Supreme Court Justices issued a disastrous decision that initiated a dangerous sea change in American politics. The Supreme Court by a 5 to 4 vote in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission struck down a century of U.S. policy and decades of Court […]
House Republican Leaders Launch Sneak Attack on Presidential Public Financing System, Schedule House Floor Vote to Repeal the System Next Wednesday with No Hearings, No Committee Consideration, No Examination of the Dangers to the Political Process of Killing Rather than Repairing the Presidential System Statement by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer House Republicans leaders […]
Democracy 21 praises House Speaker-designee John Boehner for proposing House rules that will continue the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) intact in the next Congress The OCE, created in 2007, represents the most important improvement in ethics enforcement in the House since the House Ethics Committee was created in 1966.According to published reports, the OCE […]
In a letter sent today, reform groups strongly urged Speaker-designee Boehner, "to support, without any weakening changes, the gift, travel and other ethics rules adopted by the House in 2007 in response to the Jack Abramoff scandals."The organizations include the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, CREW, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen […]
With its disastrous Citizens United decision in January, the Supreme Court, its eyes wide shut, opened a Pandora’s box. The five justices who struck down the ban on corporate expenditures in federal elections had no idea what they were unleashing on our democracy; no understanding of the consequences of their radical change to campaign finance […]
On December 9, 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation filed a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court in Green Party of Connecticut v. Garfield, a case challenging the constitutionality of the minor party provisions of Connecticut’s public financing law. The Connecticut law provides a grant of public funds to any participating statewide or […]
Campaign Legal Center – Common Cause – CREW Democracy 21-Judicial Watch – League of Women Voters Public Citizen – Taxpayers for Common Sense – U.S. PIRG Citizen and Reform Groups Call on Speaker-designee Boehner and Majority Leader-designee Cantor to Announce Their Support for Office Of Congressional Ethics and Their Opposition to any Efforts to […]
The most important ethics test for House Speaker-designee John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the next Congress will occur as soon as the new Congress convenes. The House Republican leaders must decide whether to continue or kill the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). The OCE was created under the leadership of House […]
A coalition of 10 groups, including Judicial Watch, Taxpayers for Common Sense, National Taxpayers Union and a number of reform groups will hold a press conference Thursday at 10:30 a.m. to urge the incoming House leadership of the 112th Congress to continue the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and to oppose any efforts to weaken […]
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