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

Fred Wertheimer Testifies at Democratic Platform Committee Hearing

  In testimony before the Democratic Platform Committee on Saturday, June 18, Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer supported the Clinton campaign finance reform plan and urged the Committee to include it in the party’s platform. According to the testimony, key elements of the Clinton plan include creating a small donor, public matching funds system for […]

Reform Groups Urge Representatives to Oppose Bill That Would Open Loophole for Foreign Money

  In a letter sent today, reform groups urged representatives to oppose H.R.5053, Representative Peter Roskam’s bill that would eliminate the requirement for 501(c) groups to disclose their donors to the IRS. The groups included the Brennan Center for Justice, Campaign Legal Center, Center for Responsive Politics, Common Cause, CREW, Democracy 21, Every Voice, Issue […]

Statement by Reform Groups on Campaign Finance Reform Package Unveiled Yesterday by Senate Democrats

The American people overwhelmingly want their elections to be of, by and for the people. They want everyone’s voice to have a chance to be heard in Washington, D.C. They want the barriers reduced that prevent qualified people from running for and serving in public office. In short, they object to today’s big money campaign […]

Democracy 21 Statement on Senate Democratic Reform Package

It goes without saying that our campaign finance system is completely broken. We haven’t seen this kind of big money flooding into our political system since the Robber Baron era.  According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics: – The top ten donors and their spouses have given more than $100 million; – Eighty-nine […]

Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center Challenge Failure of FEC to Adopt Regulations

  Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center sent a letter today to FEC Commissioners challenging the agency’s failure to adopt regulations to implement the restricted national party accounts enacted in December 2014 and warning about the consequences of this failure. Congress snuck a rider into a session-ending Omnibus Appropriations bill in 2014 that authorized […]

Wertheimer for Huffington Post: Eight Lessons We’ve Learned About Money in Politics This Election

The Huffington Post Eight Lessons We’ve Learned About Money in Politics This Election By: Fred Wertheimer May 26, 2016 As we approach the end of the primary season, here are eight money-in-politics lessons we have learned midpoint in the elections. 1. The Supreme Court majority did not have a clue about what it was doing […]

Reform Groups Urge Members to Oppose Campaign Finance Riders to Appropriations Bill

  In a letter sent today, reform groups urged members of Congress to oppose all “poison pill” riders, including all campaign finance riders, to the fiscal year 2017 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations bill.   The groups included the Brennan Center for Justice, the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, CREW, Democracy 21, League […]

House Ways and Means Republicans Open Door to Foreign Money Being Illegally Spent in Federal Elections

Today, House Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee opened the door to foreign money being illegally spent in federal elections through nonprofit groups. On a party line vote, the Committee voted to report a bill introduced by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) that would eliminate the existing requirement for 501(c) nonprofit groups to disclose to […]

Reform Groups Urge Members to Vote Against Bill to Eliminate IRS Contribution Disclosure for Non-profit Groups

  In a letter sent today, reform groups urged members of the House Ways and Means Committee to vote against Rep. Peter Roskam’s bill to eliminate the current requirement for 501(c) groups to make non-public disclosure of their donors to the IRS. The bill is scheduled to be marked up by the committee on Thursday. The […]

Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center Sue the FEC for Failure to Enforce the Law and Protect the Integrity of Our Democracy

The Commission’s Actions, in Dismissing Five Straw Donor Complaints, Were “Arbitrary, Capricious and An Abuse of Discretion and Otherwise Contrary to the Law” Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center filed a lawsuit Friday night in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the Federal Election Commission for dismissing five complaints that CLC […]