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 be publishing 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.
On the front page of the Sunday New York Times: FEC Chair Ann Ravel says, “The likelihood of the laws being enforced is slim. I never want to give up, but I’m not under any illusions. People think the F.E.C. is dysfunctional. It’s worse than dysfunctional.” As David Donnelly notes, imagine heads at other agencies saying stuff like that.
Ben Carson is running for president and “[i]n the first 28 days after launching his exploratory committee in March, Carson raised more than $2 million. A super-political action committee established by outside supporters to push Carson toward a run raised more than $13.5 million in less than two years as of the end of 2014, according to Federal Election Commission filings.” Last week, he said his exploratory committee had already attracted 50,000 donors.
Carly Fiorina is running for president: “Our founders never intended us to have a professional political class. They believed that citizens and leaders needed to step forward.” Center for Public Integrity’s 12 Things to Know.
Mike Huckabee is expected to announce this week too and, as Bloomberg’s Julie Bykowicz writes, “these latest entrants will have to scrap for campaign cash. Here’s a look at how they might do it.”
And in New York: Republican Senate Leader Dean Skelos “and his son are expected to be arrested on federal corruption charges next week, according to people with knowledge of the matter,” making him the second legislative leader in Albany to face charges this year. What’ll happen next?
Campaign Finance/Elections
WSJ: Campaign Finance Isn’t Bad Today. It’s Much, Much Worse. –> Former aide to Dennis Hastert and prominent Republican lobbyist John Feehery: “I don’t have anything against billionaires. It would be nice to have access to that kind of money. But our political system shouldn’t be run by the super-rich for the super-rich’s pet causes.”
Huffington Post: John Roberts Basically Thinks It’s OK When Politicians Just Do What Wealthy Donors Say –> More on last week’s Williams-Yulee decision about judicial elections from Paul Blumenthal: “In Williams-Yulee, Roberts specifically added that a judge should not ‘provide any special consideration to his campaign donors’ — leaving the clear implication that politicians, of course, do that.”
Reuters: SCOTUS chief justice is worried about eroding public faith in judges –> Alison Frankel on Williams-Yulee: “Sometime between 2009 and this Wednesday, Chief Justice Roberts seems to have changed his mind about the impact of judicial campaign donations on the public’s perception of the judiciary.”
Newsweek: Supreme Court: Judges Are Not for Sale –> The Center for American Progress’s Billy Corriher on the decision: “To address the flood of campaign cash that seeks to influence judges, states must do much more than ban personal solicitation by judicial candidates. States can definitively solve the problem of money in politics by ending judicial elections altogether.”
Telegraph-Herald: This newcomer sees the need for reform in DC –> Freshman Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) writes about his support for term limits, banning members from becoming lobbyists, and more: “Though I’ve only been serving for a short while, it’s already very clear to me that Congress is in need of serious reform. Politicians in Washington are supposed to work for the American people, but far too often their focus is on enriching themselves and advancing their career in politics.”
NPR: Beyond Quid Pro Quo: What Counts As Political Corruption? –> What’s corruption? Peter Overby speaks to Zephyr Teachout, Larry Lessig, and others: “This kind of play for the blessing of billionaires used to be over the line between politics-as-usual and corruption.”
Congress/Admin/2016
Daily Beast: What the Clintons Can Learn From Ben Franklin’s Foreign Money Scandal –> Zephyr Teachout on Ben Franklin’s snuff box and the Clinton Foundation’s foreign donors, with this key point: “Hillary Clinton can do the same thing by coming forward with a full press conference, severing all familial ties to the Clinton Foundation, and proposing real, concrete solutions to the modern crisis of corruption.”
NYT: Hillary Clinton Courts the Democratic Left, but Is Pressured to Take Progressive Stands –> Also on Clinton and campaign finance: “Mrs. Clinton’s campaign reached out through intermediaries to campaign finance activists, some of whom have been privately discussing a public effort in New Hampshire to pressure her on the issue. Campaign reform groups, in turn, have argued that she will be unable to persuade voters to back an activist government agenda unless she first addresses their concerns about Washington corruption.”
NBC News: Bill Clinton Defends His Foundation’s Foreign Money –> Bill Clinton talks with NBC News about the foundation’s donors: “There is no doubt in my mind that we have never done anything knowingly inappropriate in terms of taking money to influence any kind of American government policy. That just hasn’t happened.”
Washington Post: The Clintons, a luxury jet and their $100 million donor –> On Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra and his $100M to the Clinton Foundation: “The relationship has gained attention as Hillary Rodham Clinton has launched her presidential campaign amid questions about whether the Clinton Foundation has served as an avenue for wealthy interests to gain entree to a powerful family.”
Vox: The bipartisan corruption of American politics –> Really smart Ezra Klein piece here: “The influence-purchasing that people are worried might have happened, in a loose and indirect way, with the Clinton Foundation, is happening in an obvious and direct way around every single one of the major presidential campaigns — and what’s worse is that we’re getting used to it, inured to it, tired of complaining about it.”
Washington Post: Bernie Sanders signals aggressive challenge to Hillary Clinton –> Greg Sargent had an interesting interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday, with this answer to a question about not having a super PAC: “In asking that question, what you are already conceding is the fact that we are losing the foundations of American democracy. What you’re basically saying is, Senator, do you think it’s possible to compete in a national election with billionaires buying candidates?” Vox looks at the top donors to Clinton and Sanders.
CNN: Sanders raises $1.5 million in 24 hours –> 35,000 donors: “Bernie Sanders’ nascent presidential campaign announced Friday that it raised more than $1.5 million in its first 24 hours, a number that far outpaces what Republican presidential hopefuls posted in their first day.” And $2.1M by Saturday.
CNN: Why Jeb Bush isn’t running for president –> I love the quote from Every Voice’s David Donnelly in this story on Jeb Bush’s non-candidacy: “If Jeb walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, he should raise money like a duck. Jeb Bush is remaking campaign finance law before our eyes.” MSNBC.
POLITICO: Jeb’s secret Jersey mission –> Speaking of his non-candidacy: “Bush’s effort to undermine Christie’s network of donors, power-brokers and political players is conducted mainly through emails and phone conversations — and he tracks the progress closely.”
NJ.com: Did Christie’s 2016 PAC just skirt NJ’s pay-to-play laws? –> Missed this last week: ‘The author of New Jersey’s pay-to-play laws says Gov. Chris Christie’s 2016 PAC may have violated them by accepting tens of thousands of dollars at a GOP fundraiser co-sponsored by a company that has a contract with the state Department of Environmental Protection.”
National Journal: Is This Senate Candidate Really Willing to Swear Off Super PAC Cash? –> “Russ Feingold could be Wisconsin’s next senator. He could also be the highest-profile martyr for the cause of campaign finance reform. It looks increasingly likely that he can’t be both.”
On Meet the Press this weekend, Speaker John Boehner was asked about money in politics and said it’s not a problem because we spend more money on antacids. 1) Good on Chuck Todd for asking, 2) did he ever stop to think maybe he and his colleagues are the reason so many people have heartburn?, and 3) it’s a really silly comparison (and false)!
CRP: Major Financial Players Lobby Around Obama’s Investment Rules –> “In the months since President Obama announced his support for new retirement investment rules that would stop advisers from pushing high-fee plans on small-fry American investors, several major financial organizations have lobbied hard on a bill that would undermine the commander in chief’s agenda, according to recently released lobbying records for the first quarter of the year.”
A judge to Sheldon Adelson, who grew a bit combative in court last week: “Sir, you don’t get to argue with me. You understand that?”
To read more of this morning’s headlines, go to everyvoice.org.
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