Common Cause has filed a lawsuit in a bizarre attempt to end the Senate practice of filibustering. The pro-regulation group partnered with Democratic Representatives John Lewis and Hank Johnson of Georgia, Michael Michaud of Maine and Keith Ellison of Minnesota, as well as three DREAM Act students as plaintiffs in the case. Common Cause is [...]
The Bizarre Common Cause Lawsuit
Published on May 17, 2012
Filed Under: Blog, Disclosure, Featured Content, Uncategorized, District Of Columbia, Georgia, Maine, Minnesota
Shareholders can continue to speak for themselves
Published on May 16, 2012
There have been a number of stories hitting the news cycle concerning an activist group called Change to Win — who most recently, according to this Wall Street Journal piece, actively sang about successfully bullying of businesses into dropping their support of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Now, according to the WSJ, they are [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Citizens United, Disclosure, Featured Content, Uncategorized, free speech, ISS, proxy season, shareholder votes, WellPoint, District Of Columbia
DC Circuit Denies Stay in Van Hollen Decision
Published on May 15, 2012
From Rick Hasen’s Election Law Blog: Big news from the D.C. Circuit…The opinion for two of the three judges explaining the reasons for denying the stay lean heavily on how the challengers to the district court ruling are unlikely to succeed in their legal arguments on appeal. The court also stresses the values of disclosure, [...]
Filed Under: Disclosure, In the News, Newsroom, campaign contributions, Disclosure, non-profits, Van Hollen, District Of Columbia
Is Asking Organizations to Boycott ALEC Protecting Speech or Intimidation?
Published on April 11, 2012
Addressing conservative complaints that liberal groups campaigning to get corporations to drop funding for the American Legislative Exchange Council are engaged in intimidation of speech, Election Law Blog’s Rick Hasen responds that ”it looks to me like protected First Amendment boycott-like activity.” Of course, it can be both. One question society is going to to have to ask itself is whether it [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Disclosure, ALEC, boycott activity, First Amendment speech, Scalia, District Of Columbia
Van Hollen Decision: Disclosure No Matter Why You Gave
Published on April 9, 2012
On March 30th, D.C. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered the Federal Election Commission (FEC) back to the drawing board with instructions to rewrite disclosure regulations enacted after 2010′s Citizens United decision. According to Eliza Newlin Carney of Roll Call, “At issue is whether trade associations or tax-exempt advocacy groups must report the donors [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Disclosure, Disclosure, FEC, McCain-Feingold, Van Hollen, District Of Columbia
Campaign Funding Not Just About Super PACs
Published on April 6, 2012
It’s tempting to feel sorry for Obama because it would appear he’s having some trouble raising money for his re-election campaign through his super PAC Priorities USA Action. Billionaire investor George Soros and insurance executive Peter Lewis – who together have donated more than $50 million to Democratic political groups since 2004 – are among [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Disclosure, Featured Content, Super PACs, Democracy Alliance, Obama, Soros, super PACs, District Of Columbia
Moyers Pushes Scary Rhetoric on Campaign Disclosure
Published on April 2, 2012
I don’t what’s more offensive about this piece by Bill Moyers that appeared in today’s Huffington Post: that he uses scare-tactic rhetoric such as “plutocrats” and “media monolith” in an effort to get people to make a little trip down to their local TV stations and request copies of those stations’ ad buy invoices, or [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Disclosure, Featured Content, Bill Moyers, broadcasters, campaign ads, Huffington Post, District Of Columbia
Dickerson: Non-profits Should be Wary of DISCLOSE Act
Published on March 30, 2012
CCP Legal Director Allen Dickerson recently penned an op-ed in Campaigns & Elections on the danger that passage of the DISCLOSE Act poses to non-profits. The problem with this legislation is that in its zeal for disclosure, it would impose enormous requirements on precisely the sort of traditional, widely favored actions nonprofit advocacy groups have been [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Disclosure, Featured Content, First Amendment, Independent Speech, Campaigns & Elections, Dickerson, Disclose Act, District Of Columbia
Money in Politics is Only Dangerous to Incumbents
Published on March 29, 2012
Today CCP President David Keating testified before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration (video included). The hearing, which discussed S. 2219, is the most recent effort by the reform community to expand non-profit disclosure requirements. This latest effort comes on the heels of a number of previous attempts to dramatically expand the amount of information [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Coordination, Disclosure, Expenditure, First Amendment, Independent Speech, Political Parties, Super PACs, Chuck Schumer, DISCLOSE, Lamar Alexander, Senate Rules Hearing, District Of Columbia
Senate hears witness testimony on “DISCLOSE” Act Thursday
Published on March 28, 2012
DATELINE: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 CONTACT: Sarah Lee, Communications Director, Center for Competitive Politics 770.598.7961 ALEXANDRIA, Va. – CCP President David Keating will present testimony tomorrow morning before the Senate Committee on Rules & Administration concerning S. 2219, the “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act of 2012” (DISCLOSE Act [...]
Filed Under: Disclosure, First Amendment, In the News, Independent Speech, Newsroom, Press Releases, DISCLOSE, Hasen, Keating, Senate hearing, Wertheimer, District Of Columbia