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Faulty Assumptions
DISCLOSE Act still overwhelmingly favors unions
Published on July 23, 2010 01:30 PM
Category: Disclosure, Faulty Assumptions
Yesterday and today have produced the latest round of deception and obfuscation when it comes to the DISCLOSE Act and the privileged status as political speakers that unions would enjoy while much of the business community would be silenced. Building on Fred Wertheimer's misleading and since-debunked statements earlier this week, so-called campaign finance "reformers" are now pushing the line that the removal of only one of the many special deals for unions in the DISCLOSE Act
Nominee for the 2010 Inigo Montoya Award, “Campaign Finance Reform” division
Published on July 16, 2010 03:15 PM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Faulty Assumptions, Taxpayer Financed Campaigns
The Center for Governmental Studies (CGS) recently released a report on so-called campaign finance "reform" in Los Angeles, Money and Power in the City of Angels. The report is a look at the "effectiveness of Los Angeles municipal campaign finance reforms" and the authors also "suggest additional reforms to strengthen existing campaign finance laws." Los Angeles already has many of the features of campaign finance "reform" that advocates claim are necessary to ward off corrupti
Exclusive: shoddy hit pieces on FEC commissioners rise more than 1,000 percent!
Published on April 2, 2010
Category: Enforcement, Faulty Assumptions
"The Raw Story," a liberal Washington, D.C.-based website that dubs itself an "alternative news nexus," has distinguished itself this week by publishing a three-part hatchet job on Caroline Hunter, a Republican-designated FEC commissioner. The spurious stories are so filled with vile personal attacks, gamed statistics and revisionist history that I hesitate to even address this sorry excuse for web journalism. Nonetheless, it seems necessary to respond as Prof. Rick Hasen posted the series on h
Shredding the First Amendment?
Published on February 25, 2010 01:56 PM
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Independent Speech, Jurisprudence & Litigation
The bloviating about the Citizens United decision has demonstrated, if anything, an extraordinarily weak understanding of the campaign finance landscape. Starting with the President's outlandish claims in his State of the Union Address, followed by the fear-mongering by congressmen (such as the ineffable Alan Grayson), we've been getting the feeling that the lambasting of the Supreme Court has a lot to do with nearing midterm elections and very little to do with the facts. Cue Sen. Chris Dodd's
Schumer's 'barely true' comments on Citizens United
Published on January 24, 2010 11:11 AM
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Jurisprudence & Litigation
PolitiFact.com, a project of the St. Petersburg Times, shredded a statement by Sen. Chuck Schumer (and implicitly all other "reformers" using similar demagoguery) that in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, "the (U.S. Supreme Court) decided to overrule the 100-year-old ban on corporate expenditures." On its trusty "Truth-o-Meter" the site rated Schumer's comments "Barely True." Ouch. Here's more: Schumer said the Supreme Court "decided to overrule the 100-year-old ban on corporate
... even so, Schultz might blame progressives like himself
Published on January 9, 2010
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Press
Monitoring Ed Schultz's MSNBC talk show for campaign speak does seem ridiculous. But the reason for it comes from policies by progressives ... like Schultz.
A ten point plan for reformers on Citizens United messaging
Published on December 15, 2009
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Jurisprudence & Litigation
Air America Media President Mark Green took to the digital pages of The Huffington Post today to wail about the pending Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC. Green's piece provides an illuminating look into the mind of the campaign finance reformer, and I'll summarize the tactics behind the "reform" talking points in Citizen United v. FEC: Make up stuff and spew hyperbole: a ten point plan 1. Pretend that the Supreme Court is about to overrule "100 years of federal laws restrictin
'Reform' puppet Public Campaign Action Fund's ridiculous new campaign
Published on December 3, 2009 09:44 AM
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Taxpayer Financed Campaigns
Public Campaign Action Fund recently launched a shameful campaign, slurring U.S. Senators who don't support the health care bill as "Insurance Puppets." It blasted out a release today naming Sen. Chuck Grassley an "Insurance Puppet," announcing an online advertising campaign in Iowa and Washington, D.C. The group has also named Sens. Mitch McConnell and Joe Lieberman "puppets." Their alleged offenses? "Sen. Grassley has done all he can to derail passage of meaningful health care reform this y
Welfare for politicians is libertarian?
Published on November 23, 2009 04:36 PM
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Taxpayer Financed Campaigns
Rep. John Larson, the Democratic caucus chair in the House, recently told National Journal that H.R. 1826, the Fair Elections Now Act, has a "very libertarian streak to it." National Journal: Are there other strongholds of potential Republican support for this? Larson: It's the kind of thing that perhaps would appeal to... House member Ron Paul [R-Texas]*. It's got a very libertarian streak to it. Umm... Does Larson know what libertarians stand for — at all? The American Heritage Dictio
New report highlights failures of Wisconsin taxpayer financing
Published on November 19, 2009
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Taxpayer Financed Campaigns
While misguided legislation to expand taxpayer financing schemes in Wisconsin awaits the governor's signature or veto, the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI) released a study that details exactly how the state's earlier experiment with taxpayer financing has actually played out in the state. Wisconsin enacted a system of partial public financing in 1977 in order to "supplant campaign donations from political action committees, ensure those of modest means had money to run and
