Today’s badly broken campaign finance system benefits wealthy interests, and leaves hundreds of millions of ordinary Americans on the outside looking in at Washington’s rigged system.

Tag Archive for: Money In Politics

Trump’s Dangerous Rhetoric

In this week’s note, Fred examines two issues in the news — first, the growing dangerous rhetoric coming from former President Donald Trump, and second, Washington’s corrupting campaign finance system and the record-breaking growth of influence-seeking money in politics.  >> Trump’s Dangerous Rhetoric An adage among lawyers goes like this: “If the facts are on […]

A Watergate Lesson

Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the “Saturday Night Massacre” – the firing of Special Watergate Prosecutor Archibald Cox in October 1973 that set off a firestorm and created a constitutional crisis. The Watergate scandals led to Richard Nixon’s resignation, the first and only resignation of a President, and spurred a series of historic […]

Why Political Money Corruption Thrives In Washington & How To Fix It

Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | March 30, 2023 Presidential and congressional candidates from both parties, a feckless Federal Election Commission (FEC), and a Supreme Court majority extremely hostile to campaign finance laws have combined to eviscerate federal contribution limits – a key to restricting political money corruption in Washington. The result: a campaign finance system […]

Statement Of D21 President Fred Wertheimer On Senate Introduction Of DISCLOSE Act

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today reintroduced the DISCLOSE Act to continue his decade-long effort to end secret contributions, or “dark money,” from being spent in federal elections. The Act was first introduced in 2010 by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Representative Chris van Hollen (D-MD) and has been introduced and advocated by Senator Whitehouse in […]

Two Fundamental Threats Facing Democracy As Election Day Nears

Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | October 27, 2022 As we head into the final days of the midterm elections, Americans are facing two fundamental threats to our democracy. Threat One: Baseless attacks on our elections, led by former President Trump and his followers, are  dangerously undermining the faith of tens of millions of Americans in […]

D21 Strongly Urges Senate To Pass The DISCLOSE Act That Requires Public Disclosure Of Large Donors To Dark Money Groups

Democracy 21 today strongly urged the Senate to vote to invoke cloture and support enactment of S. 4822, the DISCLOSE Act, when it comes to the floor this week. The DISCLOSE Act would require 501(c)(4) dark money groups which spend money in federal elections to promptly disclose donors who have given $10,000 or more during […]

The Billionaires’ And Millionaires’ Democracy

Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | August 25, 2022 Our nation’s capital today floats on an ocean of influence money provided to elect favored candidates and/or to seek results in Washington. Case in point: Peter Thiel is a multibillionaire venture capitalist who co-founded PayPal and was Facebook’s first outside investor. Peter Thiel symbolizes today’s campaign finance […]

LISTEN: Fred Wertheimer on Planet Money — From Watergate’s “Suitcases Filled With Cash” To Today’s Billions In Secret Campaign Money

NPR’s Planet Money: Suitcases, secret lists, and Citizens United 7/1/2022 Listen Now   There’s a corner of the Watergate scandal you probably haven’t heard about, one with far-reaching impact, according to a new episode from National Public Radio’s Planet Money featuring an in-depth interview with Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer who has been fighting for […]

Chicago Sun-Times: “Give Candidates Who Aren’t Wealthy, Or Backed By The Rich, A Chance To Be Heard”

“A small donor matching system using public funds would help level the playing field and give politicians a reason to listen to ordinary voters.” — Chicago Sun-Times A small donor matching fund system for candidates running for state office in Illinois “would give candidates a reason to spend more time listening to ordinary people instead […]

In Their Own Words: The Candidates Empowered by the Small Donor Revolution

In Their Own Words: The Candidates Empowered by the Small Donor Revolution In anticipation of tomorrow’s vote to proceed on S. 1, the For the People Act, Democracy 21, in partnership with People for the American Way (PFAW) and the Declaration for American Democracy Coalition (DFAD), will be releasing a series of videos of women […]