As we continue our effort to keep you up-to-date 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.

The Supreme Court did the right thing in its Williams-Yulee decision yesterday, upholding Florida’s ban on judicial candidates soliciting contributions for their elections. A huge congrats to Brennan Center for Justice and Justice at Stake for their important work on the case.

Huffington Post:  Chief Justice Roberts’ “decision to back a new standard — one maintaining that judges, and therefore the campaign finance laws covering them, are different from politicians — marks a major shift for the court.” NYT, Washington Post.

• Justice at Stake: “Today’s decision helps judges, by saving them from the compromising job of raising cash from people whose cases they will decide. It helps our court system, by shoring up its ability to be fair and impartial. And it helps the public, by reassuring them that they will not find themselves in court before a judge who has received a check directly from the opposing party in their case.”
• Brennan Center: “As the Court found, campaign contributions can create an appearance and risk of favoritism. This decision allows states to protect the fairness of our courts.”
• But importantly, as Common Cause notes, Chief Justice Roberts sees a distinction between judicial and legislative elections: “The crisis we face in our for-the-highest-bidder democracy today is that the Court does not hold Congress, the President or state governments to the same standard. Chief Justice Roberts apparently sees no problem in having politicians cater to donors. That view is dangerous to our democracy.”

Rick Hasen has smart thoughts on the case, Bob Bauer, LA Times editorial, New York Times editorial.

Just out from the Sunlight Foundation and Center for Responsive Politics: “In the 2014 elections, 31,976 donors — equal to roughly 1 percent of 1 percent of the total population of the United States — accounted for an astounding $1.18 billion in disclosed political contributions at the federal level.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders will announce his presidential bid today and he said in an interview with Associated Press that “he will make money and politics a central theme of his campaign, including a call for a constitutional amendment to overturn the US Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which he blames for unleashing a torrent of money from wealthy donors into politics.”

Sanders: “What you’re looking at here is a real disgrace. It is an undermining of American democracy. But can we raise the hundreds of millions of dollars that we need, primarily through small campaign contributions to run a strong campaign? And I have concluded that I think there is a real chance that we can do that.” Center for Public Integrity’s “12 things to know.”

Sanders told ABC News, “I am not going to start a super PAC. I’m not going to go around the country talking to millionaires. Now I’m saving my time because they wouldn’t give me any money anyhow and that’s fine.”

Campaign Finance/Elections

Indy Star: Gov. Pence to sign ethics reform bill –> “A package of ethics reforms is headed to Gov. Mike Pence — including a last-minute addition that would require lawmakers to disclose businesses in which they have a particularly large financial stake.”

Oregonian: –> “The first of Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s ethics bills is headed to the Senate floor after receiving approval from a legislative committee Tuesday.”

SF Chronicle: California bill should expose ‘dark money’ behind campaigns –> Editorial in California: “The struggle to pass state legislation that would require straightforward disclosure of the true sources of campaign advertising shows the extent to which the status quo will go to resist reform.”

Congress/Admin/2016

Washington Post: Hillary Clinton emphasizes small donations — for now –> Politics today: “Small-dollar events” for a presidential campaign are those where the candidate will collect $2,700 checks, about nine weeks of pre-deduction full-time pay for a minimum wage worker.

NYT: Hillary Clinton to Jump Start Fund-Raising Efforts –> She’s moving quicker on fundraising than planned: “The move to make a quicker dash for campaign funds, according to people close to Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, was driven by the Democratic candidate’s concern about the amount of money that Jeb Bush had been raising for his super PAC.”

AP: Bush, Clinton send divergent signals on early fundraising –> “Jeb Bush wants Republicans to know he’s breaking fundraising records. Hillary Rodham Clinton wants Democrats to think she won’t. While many Republicans expect Bush to have raised $100 million by the time he declares his candidacy, Clinton advisers say that’s their modest goal for the entire primary season.”

POLITICO: Book alleges India cash swayed Hillary’s nuclear stance –> “Hillary Clinton changed her position on a 2008 nuclear agreement between the United States and India after Indian business and government interests flooded various Clinton enterprises with cash, a highly anticipated new book alleges in a chapter obtained by POLITICO.”

POLITICO: Clinton Foundation in campaign tailspin –> “A handful of deep-pocketed donors are reconsidering their gifts to the $2 billion Clinton Foundation amid mounting questions about how it’s spending their money and suggestions of influence peddling, according to donors and others familiar with the foundation’s fundraising.”

National Journal: How Presidential Ambitions Could Kill the Iran Bill –> Will Sen. Marco Rubio’s desire to win the Sheldon Adelson primary scuttle Senate efforts to have a say on the Iran deal?

Buzzfeed: Rubio Missed A Closed Intelligence Briefing In January To Fundraise In NYC –> “Republican Sen. Marco Rubio missed a closed Intelligence briefing in January to attend a New York City fundraiser, according to records.”

NY Post: David Koch supports Scott Walker for president –> Not only does David Koch like Scott Walker, he wants Rubio to be his vice president.

Charlotte Observer: Jeb Bush to stop in Raleigh, Charlotte on Friday –> One interesting note in this piece on non-candidate Jeb’s trip to woo donors in North Carolina: major state GOP financier Art Pope will be in attendance.

RCP: Christie Fundraiser Postponed Due to Baltimore Unrest –> “A Friday fundraiser in Annapolis, Maryland, for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s likely presidential bid will be postponed, a spokeswoman confirmed, as potentially volatile protests continue in nearby Baltimore.”

Bloomberg: Former Christie Ally David Wildstein Set to Plead Guilty –> “David Wildstein, a former ally of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, is set to plead guilty on Thursday, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, suggesting he may be cooperating with prosecutors probing traffic jams he ordered near the George Washington Bridge.”

The Guardian: Combative Adelson rails against ‘greedy bosses’ in entertaining court testimony –> Funny story from inside the courtroom where Sheldon Adelson took the stand this week in a wrongful termination trial.

POLITICO: House Democrats chart path back to majority –> This quote from Rep. Steve Israel on House Dems’ messaging is worth noting: “We’re going to build our message on a foundation of Republicans who continue to work for special interests and Democrats who are focused on hardworking Americans.”

National Journal: Big Pharma Collides With Patent Reformers –> On patent reform: “The drug companies (collectively known as ‘Pharma’) are widely considered, along with the biotech industry, trial lawyers, and university researchers, among the biggest lobbying hurdles by those pushing for a bill.”

Yahoo News: Guns and money: Calls mount to probe NRA finances  –> “A leading national gun safety group, joined by members of Congress, is calling for investigations of the National Rifle Association’s fundraising practices and finances in response to a Yahoo News investigation published last week.” Original story, which does look pretty bad for the NRA.

Miami Herald: Jeffrey Garcia, suspected ringer candidate pleads not guilty to campaign-finance offenses –> “The former chief of staff for Miami Democratic Rep. Joe Garcia pleaded not guilty Wednesday to secretly giving money to a suspected ringer tea-party candidate in 2010.”

Dallas Morning News: Political groups seeking cash resort to name-dropping –> “A tea party group called the Conservative Action Fund sent out two fundraising emails this month, asking donors to help draft former Florida congressman Allen West to run for a Senate seat coming open next year. The only snag: West, now living in Dallas and running the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative think tank, isn’t interested.”

Other/States

LA Times: California lawmaker seeks tax on independent political spending –> In California: “Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) has introduced a bill that would impose a tax on independent expenditures — campaign spending done by independent groups (sometimes called ‘super PACs’), instead of by candidates or party committees.”

NY Mag: After a Slew of Indictments, Albany’s Capitol Is a ‘Dome of Gloom’ –> New York continues to inspire: “But the chatter about Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Albany’s plague of corruption investigations went on all day, everywhere. In the state capitol’s corridors, in the restaurants where the pols and the lobbyists eat lunch.” A state senator weighs in.

To read more go to everyvoice.org.

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