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Pay to Play
Unions getting taxpayer dollars exempt from Schumer-Van Hollen “contractor” ban?
Published on April 27, 2010 11:40 AM
Category: Expenditure, Independent Speech, Pay to Play
Rick Hasen, law professor at Loyola University and proprietor of Election Law Blog, had an interesting comment in The Hill newspaper today relating to the pending (for quite some time) DISCLOSE bill, as Senator Schumer and Congressman Van Hollen's effort to undermine Citizens United is now cleverly known as. Hasen was addressing the legislation's ban on government contractors engaging in independent expenditures. The ban only covers for-profit corporations it seems (or so we've
Colo. Supreme Court strikes down campaign finance restrictions
Published on February 25, 2010 02:53 PM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Jurisprudence & Litigation, Pay to Play
Earlier this week the Colorado Supreme Court struck down a controversial "pay-to-play" law. The Court ruled that Amendment 54, enacted by referendum in 2008 as a state constitutional amendment, violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Covington & Burling LLP issued an excellent analysis of the ruling today: A diverse group of plaintiffs-including the chancellor of a state university, a board member of a nonprofit corporation, a labor union, and a local city council member-a
'Pay-to-play' ban axed — for now — in Colo.
Published on June 24, 2009
Category: Pay to Play
Yesterday, a Denver district judge temporary halted a so-called "pay-to-play" ban preventing certain state contractors from donating to state campaigns, according to a story today in The Denver Post. Groups, including those in the business and labor communities, have criticized the ban as an unconstitutional infringement on the rights of Coloradans to participate in politics. Judge Catherine Lemon agreed with opponents of Amendment 54, who argued the measure was "confusing, discriminatory and
Another day, another dramatic overreach by campaign finance “reformers”
Published on April 1, 2009 10:40 AM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Pay to Play
We at the Center for Competitive Politics are used to seeing broad sweeping claims by the self-anointed campaign finance "reform" community, and equally expansive proposals to wipe away core First Amendment political rights in an effort to somehow deal with real or imagined "corruption." Just yesterday, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois proposed taxpayer handouts for politicians to run their campaigns, because apparently it's tiring and time consuming having to ask for contribu
Bizarro World Meets "Pay to Play"
Published on January 30, 2009 06:00 AM
Category: Pay to Play
Fans of sixties-era Superman comics, seventies-era Superfriends cartoons, and nineties-era Seinfeld episodes will remember Bizarro World, the strange cube-shaped planet where things are done the opposite of what one might think makes sense. The planet is ruled by the "Bizarro Code," which states "Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!" So what has me strolling down corny pop-culture lane
Waiting for the “reformers” to find the elephant that isn’t in the room
Published on January 27, 2009 06:00 AM
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Pay to Play, Taxpayer Financed Campaigns
Late last week, former Republican Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Joseph Bruno was indicted for corruption. According to the indictment, Bruno was using his position to steer contracts to companies that employed him as a "consultant." Missing from the indictment, as is usually the case with elected officials who wind up in this sort of trouble, is any mention of campaign contributions. Somehow, however, I'm certain that Bruno's indictment will shortly become exhibit
"Reformers" Pitch "Pay to Play," Ignoring Lack of Campaign Finance Connection to Scandals
Published on January 16, 2009 06:00 AM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Lobbying, Pay to Play
Nathan Koppel has an article in the Wall Street Journal today on so-called "pay to play" laws. A few key excerpts: Should free speech be curbed in the name of good government? The debate, which has hovered over U.S. political campaigns for years, has taken on new fervor in the wake of recent political scandals.Good-government advocates have stepped up their calls for states and the federal government to crack down on money in politics, particularly so-called pay-to-play practices in wh
