As we continue our effort to keep you up-to-date with all the news on how money continues to corrupt American government and politics, BillMoyers.com is pleased to publish this daily digest of money and politics news compiled and edited by Adam Smith, communications director of the non-partisan campaign finance reform group, Every Voice.

Sen. Bernie Sanders will announce his bid for the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday.

• In the Wall Street Journal, from Sanders’ February interview, “Billionaires do not flock to my campaign.”
• And if you missed it, here’s a great piece from Bloomberg’s Julie Bykowicz last month on how he plans to raise the cash he needs: “The Sanders goal of $50 million, while a fraction of what likely 2016 hopefuls Jeb Bush and Clinton will likely raise, is still a big number. Getting there will involve an unprecedented reliance on small-dollar fundraising through the Internet.”
• In an op-ed today in the Des Moines Register about expanding Social Security, Sanders writes, “Some millionaires won’t want to do that, of course, which raises the question: Does our government exist to serve wealthy campaign contributors, or the people in whose name it governs?”

Want a picture with your preferred 2016 politician? Reuters: “If you are considering giving to candidates during the 2016 election cycle, but you have not given before, you may have to network to get the attention of the campaigns. Here is what financial advisers and fundraisers say it might cost you…”

Campaign Finance/Elections

Public Citizen: More Than 55 Organizations and Investors Call on the Securities and Exchange Commission to Require Disclosure of Corporate Political Spending –> “For the sake of a functioning and accountable corporate democracy, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should require disclosure of corporate political spending, 57 organizations and investors said in a letter (PDF) today. The groups ranged from environmental groups to asset managers to religious organizations.” BNA ($$)

ThinkProgress: Texas’ Voter ID ‘Poll Tax’ Goes On Trial –> On yesterday’s hearing: “A powerful federal court is now considering the fate of one of the strictest voter ID laws in the country: a bill Texas passed in 2011 that sharply limits the number of documents voters can use to prove their identity at the ballot box.”

Congress/Admin/2016

The Center for Responsive Politics has a helpful new resource to track the outside groups affiliated with presidential candidates

American Prospect: A New Formula for a Real Democratic Majority –> Pollster Stan Greenberg writes, “And the American people are ready to tax the richest and disrupt that group’s special deal with government… They are excited when leaders begin with reforms that restore democracy and get government to work for the middle class again.”

NYT: Scott Walker’s Strength in Donors –> “Roughly half of the nation’s top 250 Republican donors have given money to Mr. Walker in his campaigns for Wisconsin governor… By comparison, 30 percent have given to Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, 20 percent to Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and 10 percent to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.”

National Review: How Jeb Bush Lost the Sheldon Adelson Primary –> Jeb Bush has lost the Adelson primary, it seems, even though his “aides have, for the past several months, been making overtures to Adelson in an attempt to get him to open his wallet to a Bush super PAC that is expected to raise record sums. But at this point, it looks like none of that money will come from Adelson.” Anyway, it’s kind of weird that the question of “What should our foreign policy look like?” has as one answer, “What does the casino mogul think?”

AP: Sheldon Adelson Takes Shots At Ex-CEO –> Speaking of Adelson, he took the stand yesterday in the wrongful termination trial against his company. He doesn’t think highly of the man who brought the suit. The Guardian.

Christian Science Monitor: Jeb Bush raises record funds, draws scrutiny on campaign law ethics –> “News of a record early fundraising total for Jeb Bush is remarkable not just for the sums of money involved, but also for how those sums have been raised – in ways that could either revolutionize campaign strategy or run afoul of federal election law.”

15 Presidential Campaign Ads From the Past

POLITICO: Keystone foe Tom Steyer to host Hillary Clinton fundraiser –> Natch: “Hillary Clinton’s silence on the Keystone XL pipeline won’t stop her from visiting billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer next week for a fundraiser that suggests the controversial oil artery may be no obstacle in her courtship of greens.”

Bloomberg: Hillary Clinton Takes Manhattan (Money) –> Raised about $1 million: “Hillary Clinton’s political money race has begun, and on Tuesday she channeled the Girl Scouts, saying her fundraising motto is, ‘make new friends, but keep the old.'” She also said the $100M primary goal is “certainly within reach.” She talked about Baltimore at the event too.

The fundraiser was a real Full House with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in attendance. From my quick research, it looks like Mary-Kate donated to Joe Kennedy last cycle (her partner, Nicolas Sarkozy’s son, hosted him for a fundraiser) but I don’t see any past donation from Ashley.

POLITICO: Bill Clinton’s Africa entourage –> “On their nine-day trip to Africa, Bill and Chelsea Clinton are traveling with 20 wealthy donors and foundation supporters, a group that includes fundraisers for Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid and others who are expected to give generously to her campaign.”

Buzzfeed: Spokesman Disputes Book: Bill Clinton Not Paid For Series Of Speeches –> “Bill Clinton was not paid for several speeches as reported in a forthcoming book about his family’s foundation, spokespeople for the former president said Tuesday.”

Washington Post: 1,100 donors to a Canadian charity tied to Clinton Foundation remain secret –> “A charity affiliated with the Clinton Foundation failed to reveal the identities of its 1,100 donors, creating a broad exception to the foundation’s promise to disclose funding sources as part of an ethics agreement with the Obama administration.” The Canadian mining exec on the board is not happy about how they’re being portrayed.

Washington Post: This DC lawyer argued against gay marriage, then planned his daughter’s gay wedding. Now, he’s set to host a Cruz fundraiser –> But the attorney has a gay stepdaughter and his views are “evolving” on the issue: “On the same day the Supreme Court heard oral arguments about same-sex marriage, the DC lawyer who defended a ban on gay marriage before the highest court in 2013 was spotted as the host of a fundraiser for presidential aspirant Ted Cruz on Wednesday.”

NYT: Richard Trumka, A.F.L.-C.I.O. Chief, Warns Candidates on Inequality –> Nice line in Richard Trumka’s speech yesterday: “Since the 1980s, the growing political power of the wealthiest among us has rewritten our labor laws, our trade laws, our tax laws, our monetary policy, our fiscal policy, our financial regulations, all to push wages down and to increase corporate profits…”

POLITICO: Arms makers change tune on John McCain donations –> Money follows power: “Defense industry political action committees have given McCain nearly [as] much money in the first three months of this year as they did all of last year, when he ranked No. 190 among all members of Congress in defense industry donations.”

Oregonian: Barack Obama will be in Portland May 7 for Democratic Party fundraiser –> “President Barack Obama will stop in Portland on Thursday, May 7, for an evening fundraiser downtown hosted by the Democratic National Committee.”

Bloomberg: A Top Fundraiser for Obama Turns From Wall Street to Drones –> Major Obama Wall Street backer Robert Wolf is super intro drones right now.

Roll Call: What Rules Apply When Members of Congress Date Lobbyists? –> “When it comes to regulations and codes of conduct, the House Ethics Manual has clear instructions for members who are married or immediately related to lobbyists, but it’s less clear on other close relationships, such as romances.” Rep. Shuster continues to defend his relationship with an airline lobbyist as his committee works on aviation bill.

The Hill: Industry descends on DC for pro-pot push –> “Marijuana activists are descending on Washington this week to lobby Congress for more favorable drug laws in what promises to be one of the emerging industry’s biggest pushes yet.”

WaPo: How for-profit prisons have become the biggest lobby no one is talking about –> Private prisons are big business and their influence peddling has been growing as they try to buy up more prisons from states: “The two largest for-profit prison companies in the United States – GEO and Corrections Corporation of America – and their associates have funneled more than $10 million to candidates since 1989 and have spent nearly $25 million on lobbying efforts.” (We did a report with PICO Network on the industry a few years ago.)

Other/States

NYDN: With a dishonest maneuver, Dean Skelos and the Senate GOP protect New York’s most notorious campaign finance loophole –> On closing the LLC loophole in New York: “Republicans clearly wanted to block reform — because they’re counting on LLC donations to help their majority survive the next election cycle in an increasingly blue state, the shadow over their leader notwithstanding. But they dared not defend that position to a voting public that’s sick to death of Albany corruption scandals.”

Houston Chronicle: Ethics overhaul would require lawmaker drug tests, more lobbyist disclosure –> Drug tests? “Candidates for elective office across Texas would have to take a publicly disclosed drug test and lobbyists would have to disclose more detail about how they wine-and-dine lawmakers under a ramped-up ethics bill unanimously approved Tuesday by the Texas Senate.” Also in here: debate “cited the need to prevent legislative corruption like that in New York.”

WXXI: Attorney General Pleased with Expected Conclusion of Scarborough Case –> New York Attorney General on the latest politician pleading guilty: “Our goal is not just indicting and arresting more and more members of the legislature, the goal is reform.”

NYT: Sheldon Silver Pleads Not Guilty to Newest Charge –> “Assemblyman Sheldon Silver joked with a courtroom artist, heard a possibly apocryphal tale involving George Washington and, once again, pleaded not guilty through one of his lawyers.”

MyChamplainValley: Governor Shumlin to Appoint Counsel to Investigate Attorney General –> Weird stuff happening in Vermont: “Gov. Peter Shumlin will likely appoint an independent counsel to investigate allegations against Attorney General Bill Sorrell, a spokesperson said Tuesday. Sorrell told lawmakers Tuesday he wants to be stripped of his power to investigate and prosecute campaign finance violations.”

To read more go to everyvoice.org.

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