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 begin 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.
It’s Sunshine Week, a good time — as Common Cause says — for President Obama to issue an executive order requiring government contractors to disclose their political spending.
It’d also be a good time for Sen. Mitch McConnell to agree to a vote on the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, a bipartisan bill that would require Senate candidates to file fundraising reports electronically (and save the government about $500k a year). More on Sunshine Week.
Campaign Finance/Elections
MSNBC: Oregon’s ‘motor voter’ law to quickly increase voter registration –> Nice: “New legislation to be signed into law today in Oregon paves the way for the state to one day have close to 100 percent voter registration. The new law takes the federal ‘motor voter’ law to new levels and registers a person to vote when they obtain or renew a state driver’s license or ID — and it’s partially retroactive.” WaPo editorial.
Concord Monitor: State must fight back against Citizens United ruling –> NH State Senator Lou D’Allesandro on a resolution opposing Citizens United: “It is imperative that, as legislators, we respond to our constituents and show them we can address this issue and restore trust in our government. Therefore, I call on my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass SB 136 this year.” 11 NH towns passed resolutions last week.
March 20th event in DC with the Brennan Center –> “If judges would only look at the First Amendment’s full text — all 45 words — they would discover Madison’s music, a First Amendment that is democracy’s best friend.”
MassLive: In Ted Cruz’ world, free speech and free spending are the same –> On Ted Cruz’s comments this weekend about unlimited campaign contributions: “In Ted World, a multi-million dollar campaign contribution is no different than a cardboard placard in your front yard. I need a lot more convincing that a man with such deductive reasoning is our best bet to sit across the table from Vladimir Putin.”
The Hill: Keating gets PACs, wants more –> A profile of David Keating, the head of the pro-unlimited influence of the wealthiest among us in elections without any transparency group, the Center for Competitive Politics.
Congress/Admin/2016
NaJo: When It Pays to Pretend You’re Not Running for President –> More on the not-candidates flouting campaign finance law. Trevor Potter: “What we’re seeing is effectively a farce being played out here, where each of these candidates — in every sense of the word — is avoiding the longstanding requirements of federal election law.” Expect some announcements in April, though.
Politico: Jeb Bush’s $100 million problem –> Wall Street’s so psyched about Jeb they missed the “manage expectations” memo: “Bush advisers are scrambling to drive these lofty expectations way down, saying both publicly and privately that such numbers are absurd and that Right to Rise won’t come anywhere near them.”
HuffPo: Online Payday Lender Pumped Dark Money Into Effort To Beat Back Regulation –> In an effort to beat back new regulations, an online predatory lending group dropped “$100,000 each to American Action Network, a nonprofit closely connected to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), and YG Network, a nonprofit linked to then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia).”
NYT: Failed by Law and Courts, Troops Come Home to Repossessions –> Worth noting in this story on financial firms making life hard for members of the military: “a bipartisan bill that would have allowed service members to opt out of arbitration and file a lawsuit met with opposition from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Wall Street’s major trade group, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, or Sifma.”
Buzzfeed: Future Clinton Campaign Staffers Working As Volunteers –> On the future Clinton campaign staffers working as volunteers, but this seems like the most newsy part, from a Clinton spox: “She hasn’t made a decision about running. She is currently ‘testing the waters,’ as the Federal Election Commission calls it.”
NH1: Fiorina to fete Guinta on Tuesday –> “NH1 has learned that Carly Fiorina will be hosting an event for Guinta on Tuesday evening. The event will be taking place in the nation’s capital, as Congress is in session this week.”
NJ Advance: NJ Rep. sides with unions against president on free trade –> On Rep. Donald Norcross siding with unions, not Obama, on trade agreements: “Organized labor helped him get there. Of his 20 biggest donors, 13 were unions, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group.”
NYT: Obama Grass-Roots Group Trying to Find a Role for 2016 –> “The remnants of President Obama’s grass-roots campaign apparatus, Organizing for Action, have been in a period of flux in the last month as the organization tries to find a place among Democratic groups heading into 2016.”
Politico: Mitch McConnell grapples with Rand Paul’s plan –> Buried in this piece on Rand Paul winning over McConnell on his maybe legally questionable effort to run for president and Senate: “Still, while McConnell publicly backs Paul’s presidential run, it’s doubtful the GOP leader will do much fundraising for his colleague’s White House hopes.”
WSJ: Chris Christie Gives Pep Talk to Supporters –> “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie gave donors to his political action committee a pep talk Monday and encouraged them to keep up their work in the face of a difficult stretch for his possible 2016 presidential bid.” And that was before this story.
Reuters: Rand Paul woos donors and hackers at tech conference –> “As his likely rivals spent the weekend shaking hands in New Hampshire, potential Republican candidate Rand Paul flew to Texas to court the software developers and entrepreneurs who are likely to play a central role in the 2016 election.” The kicker is perfect tech-speak.
USA Today: Rand Paul targets young voters with Austin tech office –> Not-candidate Rand Paul has opened an office in Texas, which is not the state he represents in the Senate.
AP: GOP fundraiser in Chicago an early show of support for Kirk–> “Illinois Republican leaders turned out Monday for an early fundraiser for US Sen. Mark Kirk’s 2016 re-election campaign, a show of support that appeared aimed in part at trying to dissuade potential GOP primary challengers.” Brought in $200k.
The Hill: Retired rep becomes name partner at boutique firm –> “Former Rep. Tom Latham has joined a boutique consulting and lobbying firm, Hecht, Spencer & Associates, adding his name to the shop.”
The Hill: Navigating the skies and DC –> “When passengers board a Delta Airlines flight at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport, the voice they hear welcoming them aboard from the cockpit could be new Air Line Pilots Association President Tim Canoll. Canoll, who took the reins for the influential pilot group this year, still flies for Delta part-time when he’s not busy fighting turbulent battles about the aviation industry in Washington.”
Politico: Investigators contact Aaron Schock associates –> “Investigators from the Office of Congressional Ethics have begun reaching out to individuals in Rep. Aaron Schock’s political orbit, a possible first sign of an official investigation of the Illinois Republican.” Also yesterday: “another business deal between embattled Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock and one of his political donors.” And this one about his fancy podium.
Other/States
WaPo: Ronald Machen is leaving behind unfinished business in DC. –> DC’s US Attorney Ronald Machen Jr is leaving his job: “Nowhere was Mr. Machen’s impact more pronounced than in his focus on public corruption.” City Paper.
NYT: Schneiderman Issuing Ethics Plan Aimed at New York Legislators –> “Staking out a broad vision of ethics reform amid a swirl of other proposals in the capital, New York’s attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, called for an elimination of all outside jobs for state legislators and the end of a widely criticized system of per diem payments.”
NYDN: De Blasio donor fined more than $3,000 by Campaign Finance Board –> “A top donor to Mayor de Blasio — who helped broker a peace deal between the mayor and one of his loudest police critics — was fined $3,561 on Thursday by the Campaign Finance Board.”
SacBee: Gavin Newsom running marathon race for California governor –> FOR 2018: “In the weeks since, the 47-year-old Democrat has reported raising about $757,000, mostly from his political base in the Bay Area.”
With Israelis at the polls today, re-upping this story from January –> “More than 90 percent of the Israeli prime minister’s campaign money comes from the United States”
To read more go to http://everyvoice.org/dailyclips.
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