Campaign Finance PolicyThree Scenarios Now Possible on Election Spending What will federal elections look like now that the Supreme Court has ruled that corporations (and most likely unions) may use their massive treasury funds to directly affect federal elections? Law in the Rabbit Hole This week’s Court of Appeals decision in Unity08 v FEC could have been written by the Mad Hatter himself. It uses a doctrinal sleight of hand to reach a result that makes a mockery out of the plain meaning of the statute and undermines the anti-corruption purpose underlying the campaign finance laws. Further Thoughts on Citizens United and the Supreme Court Whatever the actual reasons for re-argument of Citizens United, the opinion has the look of an unseemly activist act. It looks more like an act of judicial legislating of the sort usually bemoaned by the Federalist Society than sober constitutional restraint of the sort advocated by the Chief Justice in his confirmation hearings. A Wake-Up Call on Campaign Finance Reform President Obama was concerned enough by the Citizens United decision to condemn it in his State of the Union address. And Congress is scrambling to mitigate the damage, including closing a loophole opened up by the decision that would allow foreign-owned domestic corporations to spend in American elections. But bad as this decision was, it may represent only one step in a broader effort by anti-reform groups to dismantle most of the campaign finance reforms on the books. White House Urged to Nominate FEC Commissioners Willing to Enforce the Law Enforcing the laws on the books is key to changing the way business is done in Washington. And the key to enforcing the law is cleaning house at the dysfunctional FEC - something sure to ruffle feathers on Capitol Hill. But as Legal Center Executive Director J. Gerald Hebert stressed in his letter to President Obama today, “it is a fight that your Administration must undertake to be true to the commitments you made during your presidential campaign, at your Inauguration, after the Court’s decision and at your State of the Union address.” A “Regulatory” Agency Expeditious Only in Deregulation A nearly eight-year battle with the FEC over the agency’s ineffective implementation of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) “coordination” provision continued yesterday with rulemaking comments filed by the Legal Center, together with Democracy 21. The heel dragging, obstruction, and unwillingness of the agency to adopt effective coordination regulations stands in stark contrast to its rapid action to repeal contribution regulations recently struck down by the courts. New Report: "Reform In The Age of Networked Campaigns" Yesterday, at an event held at The Brookings Institution, a new report was issued by campaign finance experts Tony Corrado, Michael Malbin, Tom Mann, and Norm Ornstein. The Report, entitled "Reform In The Age of Networked Campaigns--how to foster citizen participation through small donors and volunteers" offers a collection of important recommendations for reform. SpeechNow Seeks Immunity for "527 Groups" If SpeechNow.org were to be successful in its challenge, the “527 groups” active in past presidential elections would be authorized to operate almost entirely outside of the campaign finance laws, allowing hundreds of millions of dollars of soft money to flow back into federal elections. A Look at the Obama Administration's Lobbying Initiatives Over the course of 2009, the new Administration has launched a series of initiatives related to its interaction with lobbyists. The Campaign Legal Center summarizes these efforts by the Obama White House to restrict the influence of special interests. FEC Ignores Law, Reopens Corporate Jet Travel to Senators The FEC’s new candidate air travel rule illegally contradicts the plain meaning of the statute. Unfortunately, gutting or ignoring federal law—that Commissioners would have written differently themselves—has become a recurring habit for the FEC. In an earlier rulemaking, the FEC gutted the intent of another key aspect of HLOGA, allowing lobbyists to easily evade required reporting of bundled campaign contributions. |
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