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

Democracy 21/Brennan Center Report: “Empowering Small Donors in Federal Elections”

New Proposal Seeks to Boost the Power of Small Donors After Citizens United How a Public Matching Fund Program Can Mobilize Voters and Change the Way We Finance Campaigns Washington, DC –To counter the outsized role of big money in politics after Citizens United, a new plan to boost the power of small donors in […]

Statement by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer on Supreme Court’s Decision to Leave Citizens United Standing

Statement by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer The Supreme Court today has left standing the disastrous Citizens United decision and the enormous damage it is doing to our democracy and political system. Nevertheless, the battle in Congress, the states and the courts for effective campaign finance laws to prevent the corruption of our officeholders and […]

Politico op-ed by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer- “Citizens United: Watergate redux”

Politico Citizens United: Watergate redux By Fred Wertheimer June 15, 2012 When the Supreme Court issued its disastrous Citizens United decision, five justices took the nation back to the era of secret money, unlimited campaign contributions and corporate funds at the core of the Watergate scandal. On June 17, 1972, a burglary at the Watergate […]

Democracy 21 Calls on Justice Department to Investigate Whether Super PACs Supporting Obama and Romney are Engaged in Massive Campaign Finance Violations

In a letter sent today to Attorney General Eric Holder, Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer requested an investigation “by the Justice Department into whether the candidate-specific Super PACs associated with President Obama and presidential candidate Mitt Romney are engaged in massive violations of the campaign finance laws.” “Democracy 21 believes that the Super PACs supporting […]

Legislation to Respond to the Citizens United Decision: Myths & Realities Part 3

Legislation to respond to the Citizens United decision was introduced on April 29, 2010 by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Representatives Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Mike Castle (R-DE).  This is Democracy 21’s third “myths and realities” release on the legislation.  Myth: The Schumer-Van Hollen bill is biased because its restrictions do not apply to […]

Legislation to Respond to the Citizens United Decision: Myths & Realities Part 4

Legislation to respond to the Citizens United decision was introduced on April 29, 2010 by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Representatives Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Mike Castle (R-DE).  This is Democracy 21’s fourth "myths and realities" release on the legislation. Myth: The legislation introduced by Representative Van Hollen is a partisan bill. Reality: This […]

Legislation to Respond to the Citizens United Decision: Myths & Realities Part 2

Legislation to respond to the Citizens United decision was introduced on April 29, 2010 by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Representatives Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Mike Castle (R-DE).  This is Democracy 21’s second “myths and realities” release on the legislation. Myth:  Under the new legislation, non-profit (c) (4) advocacy organizations (most are incorporated) that […]

Legislation to Respond to the Citizens United Decision: Myths & Realities Part 1

Legislation was introduced today to respond to the Citizens United decision by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and by Representatives Chris Van Hollen and Mike Castle (R-DE). This is Democracy 21’s first “myths and realities” release to deal with incorrect and inaccurate claims made about the legislation. We will continue to issue these releases as circumstances […]

Summary of Legislation Introduced in Response to Citizens United Decision

The legislation introduced by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Representatives Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Mike Castle (R-DE) addresses problems that arise from the Supreme Court’s destructive decision in the Citizens United case to empower corporations and unions to make unlimited expenditures to influence federal elections and government decisions.   The core provisions of the […]

Statement of Democracy 21 President on Legislation Introduced to Respond to Citizens United Decision

Democracy 21 strongly applauds Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Representatives Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Mike Castle (R-DE) for the important national leadership they have provided in proposing legislation to respond to the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case. The legislation provides Congress with the opportunity to mitigate the destructive impact of the […]