Although the recent IRS scandal suggests that bureaucratic control of political associations and political speech is a dangerous idea, “reformers” have used the media attention on the matter to continue their campaign against corporate political expenditures. According to those who wish to further regulate political speech, the “real IRS scandal” is that 501(c)(4) groups took [...]
Restricting Political Speech: The First Question Must be “Why?”
Published on June 18, 2013
Filed Under: Blog
CCP Welcomes Two New External Relations Associates
Published on June 16, 2013
The Center for Competitive Politics (CCP) is pleased to announce the addition of Tom Swanson and Luke Wachob to our External Relations Department. Tom Swanson has joined CCP as an External Relations Associate. He recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in Philosophy. Before joining the Center for Competitive Politics, Tom worked as a Programs and New Media Intern [...]
Filed Under: Blog
Wall Street Journal on Farris v. Seabrook
Published on June 13, 2013
Our friends at the Institute for Justice filed a lawsuit in June of 2011 on behalf of Robin Farris, challenging Washington’s contribution limits (Farris v. Seabrook) of $800 for recall campaigns. IJ argued that because there is no opportunity for corruption in the recall attempt, the contribution limits are not constitutional. In November 2012, a U.S. District [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Completed Case, Farris v. Seabrook Other Links, Litigation Blog/Press Releases, Washington
IRS Targeting Program Update
Published on June 10, 2013
Revelations from Congressional investigations into the IRS targeting program last week continue to cast doubt on the veracity of the agency’s narrative that the targeting was perpetrated by “rogue” agents. According to IRS employee Gary Muthert of the Cincinnati branch, his supervisor explained to him that “Washington, D.C. wanted some cases,” when told to look [...]
Filed Under: Blog, campaign finance, Disclosure, IRS, IRS coverage
Campaign Finance Speed Trap
Published on May 29, 2013
Meet Mr. T. Augurson. Although he doesn’t know it yet, he is a campaign finance scofflaw. According to U.S. News & World Report, Mr. Augurson is passionate about cars and politics – his only offense is that he combined the two interests without consulting a lawyer first. With a 556-horsepower supercharged V8, Mr. Augurson’s CTS-V [...]
Filed Under: Blog
Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst
Published on May 24, 2013
On Wednesday, Senator Mitch McConnell wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post about the problems with disclosure (The IRS scandal and Obama’s culture of intimidation): For years, administration officials have used the power of the federal government to isolate their opponents. Meanwhile, the unionized employees who populate the IRS and other agencies across the country [...]
Filed Under: Blog
Shareholders continue voting against disclosure
Published on May 23, 2013
Since our last update, shareholder proposals to increase disclosure and ban political expenditures in public companies have continued the trend of not coming anywhere close to passing. The list of companies whose shareholders have voted down the proposals now include (as reported by ProxyMonitor.org): Goldman Sachs (Disclosure 0%) Amazon (Disclosure 0%) The Travelers Companies (Disclosure [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Corporate Governance, Corporate Governance Press Release/In the News/Blog
“This is fixable”
Published on May 15, 2013
In a brief statement, President Obama addressed the growing IRS scandal. Calling for cooperation between his administration and Congress in its “oversight role,” President Obama promised that the responsible parties will be held accountable and that new measures will be enacted to make sure this kind of targeting never happens again. President Obama also said [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Featured Content
How Much Disclosure?
Published on May 15, 2013
David Keating appeared on Thom Hartmann’s The Big Picture yesterday, discussing disclosure of non-profit information beyond what is already required by law. “There are a lot of good examples…I think there have been many unpopular causes over time where people are not willing to join if their names are going to become public,” Keating told [...]
Filed Under: Blog
Center for Competitive Politics urges the Supreme Court not to defer to Congress when reviewing contribution limits
Published on May 14, 2013
ALEXANDRIA, VA. – The Center for Competitive Politics announced today that it filed an amicus curiae brief in the United States Supreme Court supporting the plaintiffs in the case of McCutcheon v. FEC (No. No.12-536). The case presents a First Amendment challenge to the aggregate contribution limits regime set up by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Featured Content, Press Releases