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Faulty Assumptions
We're not corrupted by contributions because we're the good guys...
Published on June 26, 2008 07:00 AM
Category: Faulty Assumptions
Earlier today I ran across this article in the Chicago Tribune about some fussing over the Reform Institute, Senator McCain, disclosure, and some of the Institute's contributors. A few key passages from the article...Allies of Sen. John McCain opened a Washington think tank in 2001 to promote transparency and accountability in government...For the next seven years, the non-profit Reform Institute churned out position papers and offered expert testimony on campaign finance reform, the need for bi
There they go again...
Published on June 5, 2008
Category: Contributions & Limits, Faulty Assumptions, Lobbying
After efforts by former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer to impose campaign finance regulation were undone for various reasons, new Governor David Paterson unveiled his own campaign finance package yesterday.The proposed legislation is comprised of the latest soup du jour of campaign finance regulations: lower contribution limits to candidates, lower contribution limits to political parties, lower limits for lobbyists, and the inclusion of a millionaires' amendment.Two of these pro
What will they say?
Published on June 2, 2008 03:30 PM
Category: Faulty Assumptions
Campaign finance "reform" is supposed to guard against corruption and the "appearance of corruption" - or so we are told Proponents of a highly regulated campaign system like to seize on any scandal no matter how dubious or how unrelated to campaign finance laws as proof that more regulation is needed. Skeptics of campaign finance regulation counter that nearly all improprieties by elected officials are not the result of lax campaign finance laws and should not be
The Issue Beyond Leake and Pregnant in SpeechNow.org
Published on May 8, 2008 07:00 AM
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Jurisprudence & Litigation, Political Committees & 527s
If the precedent coming out of SpeechNow.org is that independent and non-corrupting organizations still can be made to register on the basis of their "major purpose," then the chill of complaints and threat of investigations into issue advocates and 501(c)(4) organizations will continue unnecessarily and unabated.Click on the title to read more...
FEC Stalemate
Published on May 1, 2008
Category: Faulty Assumptions
Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid has pitched a new deal in an effort to reopen the doors at the Federal Election Commission, which remain virtually shuttered by a Senate stalemate over its nominees. Currently, this regulatory panel charged with overseeing campaign finance and political speech restrictions finds itself four Commissioners short and unable to act in the midst of the longest primary contest in recent memory. Skeptics of campaign finance regulations have long voiced
Clean elections and N.J. - not perfect together
Published on April 28, 2008
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Taxpayer Financed Campaigns
The Record ran an op-ed cowritten by CCP president Sean Parnell on the failure of New Jersey's experiment with taxpayer-financed political campaigns.The piece begins:Try as they might, the lawmakers who created New Jersey's welfare-for-politicians scheme of taxpayer-subsidized political campaigns can't hide their failure.New Jersey's Election Law Enforcement Commission recently issued a report on last fall's taxpayer-financed experiment that makes it clear that the program achieved no tangible p
Holier than thou
Published on April 21, 2008
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Lobbying
At the close of the Pennsylvania primary, both Democratic candidates are now accusing each other of "maintaining ties to special interests they both claim to reject."The Associated Press reported that Hillary Clinton's latest ad declares, "In the last 10 years, Barack Obama has taken almost $2 million from lobbyists, corporations and PACs. The head of his New Hampshire campaign is a drug-company lobbyist, in Indiana an energy lobbyist, a casino lobbyist in Nevada."Not to be o
Doing away with the presidential public financing system
Published on April 16, 2008
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Taxpayer Financed Campaigns
As election observers continue to buzz about the public-financing conundrums of both John McCain and Barack Obama, the Chicago Tribune offers an enticing idea - do away with the program entirely.As most readers of this blog know, McCain finds himself under fire from Democrats for backing out of the public financing system for the primary. Obama, meanwhile, discovered a "parallel" public financing (traditional, private financing but with a plethora of small donors) and has backed a
The Advantage of being Moses
Published on April 8, 2008
Category: Faulty Assumptions
So, exactly how much of a challenge must it have been to challenge, debate, and oppose Moses?Not the real Moses, of course (although I expect that was a significant challenge as well). No, I'm talking about segregation defenders and gun-control advocates who had the daunting task of opposing Charlton Heston, who famously portrayed Moses in "The Ten Commandments" as well as other epic figures such as Spartacus and El Cid. Heston, of course, passed away this weekend.Heston was able to us
Fear mongering by Common Cause
Published on April 4, 2008
Laura Renz
Category: Faulty Assumptions, Taxpayer Financed Campaigns
At an event put on by Georgetown University's "Forum for the Study of Democracy and Autocracy" this week entitled "Assessing the State of Democracy in America: Is This the Best We Can Be?" several panelists spoke on the current state of our election processes and on political reform. A representative from Common Cause Maryland wisely pointed out that the call for reform too often comes in the heat of political battle, and more objective views are needed for long lasting
