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.
Below is an article about a Washington Post-ABC News poll that appeared today in The Washington Post entitled "Poll: Large majority opposes Supreme Court’s decision on campaign financing," and an editorial that appeared today in The New York Times entitled "A Welcome, if Partial, Fix." According to the Post poll, eight out of ten Americans […]
Representative Van Hollen and Senator Schumer Announce Legislative Response to Citizens United; Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Strongly Supports Legislative Package, Calls for Prompt Congressional Action Below is a release issued today that sets forth the Legislative Framework prepared by Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), assistant to the House Speaker, and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) […]
In testimony today before the Senate Rules Committee, Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer called on Congress “to move swiftly to enact legislation to mitigate the enormous damage done” to the political system by the recent Citizens United decision. Wertheimer testified that it was essential to promptly pass legislation that addresses the problems caused by […]
The question has been raised about whether the policy to ban corporate contributions and expenditures in federal elections dates back to 1947 or to 1907. It is clear from the history of the law that the policy to ban corporate expenditures originated in 1907. In 1907, Congress enacted legislation to prohibit corporations from "directly or […]
Last night in his State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to enact legislation to correct the problems caused by the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Citizens United v. FEC. The President said that the decision “reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign corporations […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer The Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case has opened a huge loophole in the campaign finance laws that will allow foreign countries, foreign corporations and foreign individuals to participate in electing and defeating federal officeholders and other candidates. The Supreme Court majority was apparently unaware […]
Destructive Decision Turns Back Clock to 19th Century; Chief Justice Roberts Abandons His Public Commitment to “Judicial Modesty” and “Respect for Precedent” Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Today’s Supreme Court decision in theCitizens United case is a disaster for the American people and a dark day for the Supreme Court. The decision will […]
The Federal Election Administration Act of 2003 Structure of the FEA § The Federal Election Administration Act of 2003 (Act) creates a new independent agency, the Federal Election Administration (FEA), to replace the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The three-member FEA will consist of a chairman and two other members, all of whom […]
Democracy 21 Report: No Bark, No Bite, No Point In 2002, a task force of campaign finance and enforcement experts convened by Democracy 21 issued a 142-page report documenting the failure of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to carry out its enforcement responsibilities and setting forth a detailed proposal for establishing a new agency to […]
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