News

Two Days Later

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | November 5, 2020 “Right now, the overriding issue for our democracy is to end the presidency of the most dangerous and destructive President in our history. The indications are that Vice President Biden is going to accomplish that task on January 20, 2021.”  As I write this, former Vice President […]

Five Days

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | October 29, 2020 Staggering amounts of campaign money are being raised and spent in the 2020 presidential and congressional elections. Total spending in this election cycle is estimated to reach a record-shattering $14 billion, more than twice the amount spent in the 2016 election cycle, according to the Center for […]

Trump’s Authoritarian Fantasy

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | October 22, 2020 “Trump would like to succeed King George III as the first dictator of the United States. The American people are not about to let that happen.” There may be no better example of President Trump’s governing tendencies as a two-bit, anti-democratic authoritarian than his obsession with jailing […]

Packing the Supreme Court, GOP-Style

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | October 15, 2020 “McConnell’s day as the czar of the Senate may be ending soon. It cannot come soon enough.” Led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, congressional Republicans are raising concerns that Democrats may try to “pack” the Supreme Court by adding seats to the Court if they win […]

The Trump-Barr Horror Show

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | October 8, 2020 “Attorney General Barr is a dangerous man without a moral compass and without any perceivable commitment to the rule of law.” This week the Trump/Barr parade of horrors continued. Donald Trump ranted and raved; Attorney General William Barr continued to grossly abuse his office. Barr and Trump […]

The American People Will Decide This Election

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | October 1, 2020 “The explanation for the President’s crazed efforts is simple. Trump knows he is losing and so he continues to try to steal the election instead.” This week’s presidential debate was a national embarrassment with President Trump wildly out of control and spouting lies about practically everything that […]

Democracy 21 Applauds Ethics Code Issued Today by the Biden-Harris Transition – Wertheimer Statement

Democracy 21 Applauds Ethics Code Issued Today by the Biden-Harris Transition Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer The ethics code issued today by the Biden-Harris Transition is an excellent and comprehensive approach to preventing the conflicts of interest that can arise in a presidential transition. In addition to its important prohibitions on conflicts of […]

Bloomberg Government: Record $13 Billion Raised for 2020 Elections Spurs Ad Avalanche

Fred Wertheimer, president of the nonprofit Democracy 21 who’s tracked campaign fundraising since the Watergate era, said in a phone interview the fundraising this year is more than “anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes.” Outside groups can focus money on the most competitive races, and the result, he said, “is a campaign finance system dominated […]

Trump & McConnell Attack Our Democracy

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | September 24, 2020 “No matter what Trump puts the nation through in the coming months, he will not be able to steal the presidency from the American people.” President Trump continued his assault on voting by mail yesterday. But he also raised the issue to new heights, threatening to have […]