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.
Mike Huckabee’s presidential announcement speech started out strong yesterday. He said, “Power and money and political influence have left a lot of Americans lagging behind” and talked about the “the donor class that fills the campaign coffers.” He said he “will be funded and fueled not by the billionaires, but by working people who will find out that $15- and $25-a-month contributions can take us from Hope to higher ground.”
But then he added, “Now, rest assured, if you want to give a million dollars, please do it,” which is sort of illegal.
As CLC’s Larry Noble told The Wall Street Journal: “It would be illegal for him to solicit $1 million whether for his campaign or his super PAC. For him to suggest that if you want to give $1 million to give to the super PAC undermines the whole concept of independence.” Washington Post.
This New Yorker piece on the “Destruction of the Wisconsin Supreme Court” is a must-read: “This is the latest drama in a decade long saga that, largely through money-fuelled and often nasty judicial elections, has intensified the turn of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from a congenial, moderately liberal institution into a severely divided conservative stronghold. More to the point, the elections have reduced it from one of the nation’s most respected state tribunals into a disgraceful mess.”
Campaign Finance/Elections
Citizen Action NY: Fair Elections is the only acceptable response to Skelos’ arrest –> The problem in New York isn’t a few rotten apples, it’s the whole darn barrel. “That’s the corruption that can only be addressed by changing the system. We need a system where candidates don’t need to rely on billionaire developers to get elected. We need a system where power rests with support from ordinary voters.”
NYT: FEC Data Shows Campaign Fines Hit Record Low in 2014 –> You see, it is different: “With more than $7 billion spent in 2014 on federal elections, the commission levied $597,429 for all types of fines — from major penalties to ones that amounted to traffic tickets. That was less than half the total issued a year earlier and the lowest amount on record since the current system for issuing fines started in 2001.” Yesterday’s Diane Rehm episode.
Huffington Post: The Obama Administration Could Limit Secretive Political Ads Before 2016. Will It? –> “Congressional Democrats are pressuring President Barack Obama’s Federal Communications Commission to require super PACs and other secretive groups that buy political advertisements to disclose their major funders in those ads. Along with consumer advocates and a former FCC commissioner, some Democrats contend that the agency doesn’t need congressional authorization to force super PAC donors to reveal their identities.”
Congress/Admin/2016
Center for Public Integrity: Political Candidates Took 7,625 Uber Rides in the Last Election –> Dave Levinthal has a fun use of campaign finance data with this story: “In all, about 275 federal political committees together spent more than $278,000 on at least 7,625 Uber rides during the 2013-2014 election cycle…”
POLITICO: Cash flows in the year of super PAC 2.0 –> Yup: “The election will likely break all outside spending records, but it’s the experimental nature of how that money is raised and spent that will have a lasting effect on future elections.”
CNN: Huckabee, allies aim to raise $60 million –> “Huckabee raised about $16 million in 2008, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, before dropping out of the race in March. This time around Huckabee expects to raise about $60 million between his campaign and his super PAC in the early stages of his campaign, an adviser said.”
Contra Costa Times: As Hillary Clinton arrives in Bay Area, a look inside pricey political fundraisers –> “Hillary Clinton and many of the Bay Area’s deep-pocketed Democratic donors are old buddies, but Wednesday will be the first time she comes with her hand out as a declared candidate for president in 2016.” NYT.
Last night on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart needled Ted Cruz for skipping Loretta Lynch’s confirmation vote to raise money.
Washington Post: Hoping to highlight good works, Clintons find controversy instead –> “Meanwhile, some blue-chip companies that have long provided large donations to the Clinton Foundation are pulling back or reassessing their support.” Chelsea Clinton has some thoughts.
Fun fact: According to a new report, the highest compensated hedge fund manager in 2014 was Ken Griffin, who you may remember, was the first person to max out under the new party contribution limits (also the 13th biggest giver in federal elections last cycle). Of course.
Other/States
POLITICO: Congratulations, New York, You’re #1 in Corruption –> Ok this is a good line: “New York doesn’t so much have a culture of corruption as an entire festival.” Dean Skelos’s caucus is holding together but for how long?
Gotham Gazette: Dean Skelos thwarted reform and maintained power, despite the odds –> Dean Skelos’ long-time opposition to ethics and campaign reform isn’t all that surprising with the news this week.
Times-Union: NYC development firm tied to Skelos, Silver affairs –> “For the second time this year, a real estate developer of luxury Manhattan residences is at the center of a major New York political scandal. But Monday’s news could have far-reaching consequences for the state’s political dynamics.”
Star-Tribune: Maintain limits on campaign finance in Minnesota –> The Minnesota House is attacking the state’s public financing system, “an ingenious 40-year-old public campaign finance scheme that provides refunds for small donations to candidates for state offices and allows those candidates to voluntarily limit special-interest contributions and total spending in exchange for taxpayer-provided campaign cash.”
Bangor Daily News: House Democrats reject photo ID mandate for Maine voters –> Nice: “The prospect of requiring voters in Maine to show photo identification before receiving a ballot suffered what could be a fatal blow Tuesday when Democrats in the House of Representatives voted against it.”
Nuvo: Expanded disclosure, ethics rules now law –> In Indiana: “Gov. Mike Pence signed House Bill 1002, which was authored by House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, on Monday. The bill would require legislators to disclose any investments they hold that total $5,000 or more. Former Indiana law only required disclosures for investments of $10,000 or more.”
Bloomberg: Alberta Tories Ousted in Historic New Democratic Party Win –> An historic election in Alberta, Canada last night and “The New Democrats also plan to ban corporate and union donations, the lifeblood of the PCs. The majority of about C$825,300 raised by Prentice’s party in the first quarter this year came from corporate donors.”
This is a shortened version of Every Voice’s morning email; to read more go to everyvoice.org.
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