Fix the FEC: FEC News Stories

Cheryl Maher says Kevin Garn lied about hot tub contact

rsillman — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:50:55 -0500

SALT LAKE CITY — Kevin Garn may have violated election laws by not disclosing on federal forms that he paid a woman $150,000 in 2002 — the year he ran for Congress — to keep quiet about hot tubbing together in the nude. Also, the woman now says Garn lied about not having any contact in that tub.

City Weekly reported on Friday that Cheryl Maher told it that Garn — who is now the Utah House minority leader — is lying when he denied any touching or intercourse in that tub when she was just 15 years old and he was 28 and married.

Maher was hesitant to give her own version of events when she spoke to City Weekly but said, "Let's just say this. He really loves to massage." She added that Garn had been her LDS Sunday School teacher years before the incident and was her employer at the time it occurred in 1985. "I was in love with him," she said.

Pelosi floats public financing for elections

rsillman — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:53:06 -0500

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Thursday night floated the idea of implementing public financing for political campaigns as a long-term goal.

In an interview on MSNBC, the top House member was asked what she could do to limit the impact of a Supreme Court decision that could allow corporations to spend freely on politics.

"I hope that we can build a coalition for public financing of campaigns," she said. "It will be so much more wholesome for our country and for our democratic process and for the attitude that the public would have toward politics."

It's Obama vs. the Supreme Court, Round 2, over campaign finance ruling

rsillman — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:09:40 -0500

President Obama and the Supreme Court have waded again into unfamiliar and strikingly personal territory.

When Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. told law students in Alabama on Tuesday that the timing of Obama's criticism of the court during the State of the Union address was "very troubling," the White House pounced. It shot back with a new denouncement of the court's ruling that allowed a more active campaign role for corporations and unions.

On Wednesday, Senate Democrats followed up with pointed criticism of Roberts, and at a hearing on the decision, a leading Democrat said the American public had "rightfully recoiled" from the ruling.

New right-wing groups bombard Democrats

rsillman — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:14:18 -0500

The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision lopped off a major portion of American campaign finance regulation, leading critics to warn that elections would become prey to a new wave of anonymous money and aggressive political groups.

Relax — they’re already here.

More Congressional Hearings to Address Citizens United

rsillman — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:02:51 -0500

The Senate Judiciary committee held a hearing tilted, "We the People? Corporate Spending in American Elections after Citizens United." During the hearing opponents of the ruling argued that the case exemplified that the Roberts Court has abandoned judicial restraint. Conversely, witness Bradley Smith, described the responses to the Citizens United decision as "hysteria." Smith also caused hysteria during the hearing when he referenced Vermont legislators as "freaking out" about the decision. This incited a heated exchange between Smith and Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Leahy interrupted Smith, disagreeing with the characterization of Vermont legislators.

Substantially, the panelists somewhat agreed that it will be very difficult to pass any major legislative changes. Any new campaign finance law is likely to face a legal challenge.

Higher Corporate Spending on Election Ads Could Be All but Invisible

rsillman — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:45:09 -0500

The Supreme Court recently freed corporations to spend more money on aggressive election ads. But if businesses take advantage of this new freedom, the public probably won't know it, because it's easy for them to legally hide their political spending.

Under current disclosure laws for federal elections, it's virtually impossible for the public to track how much a business spends, what it's spending on, or who ultimately benefits. Experts say the transparency problem extends to state and local races as well.

"There is no good way to gauge" how much any given company spends on elections, said Karl Sandstrom, a former vice chairman of the Federal Election Commission and counsel to the Center for Political Accountability. "There's no central collection of the information, no monitoring."

Corporate justice at our expense

rsillman — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:53:48 -0500

The Supreme Court’s recent slim majority decision in Citizens United has opened floodgates that long prevented corporate cash from drowning out the voices of American citizens in election campaigns. Those who care about the integrity of the American political process view this decision with concern and astonishment.

Pro-development group sues state to nix ban on corporate campaign donations

rsillman — Tue, 9 Mar 2010 11:01:50 -0500

HELENA - A pro-development group and a Bozeman painting company asked a Helena District Court on Monday to strike down Montana's 1912 ban on corporate donations and expenditures to political campaigns to comply with a January U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Western Tradition Partnership and Champion Painting Inc. filed the lawsuit against Attorney General Steve Bullock and Political Practices Commissioner Dennis Unsworth.

They asked Helena District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock to declare Montana's longstanding prohibition against corporate donations and expenditures to be unconstitutional and illegal. They want Sherlock to stop Bullock, county attorneys and Unsworth from enforcing the law until he issues a ruling.

Drown out the voices of cash

rsillman — Mon, 8 Mar 2010 12:21:44 -0500

Corporate America is quite capable of communicating political messages that are both false in content and evil in intent. It is never good news when the folks who brought us the fictional characters of Harry, Louise, and clean coal are presented with more opportunity to influence public policy.

Campaign finance legislation faces tricky issue of foreign corporations

rsillman — Mon, 8 Mar 2010 12:30:18 -0500

Reporting from Washington — Proposed legislation to block foreign companies from contributing money to U.S. elections could end up affecting well-known companies such as Chrysler, Anheuser-Busch and Citgo, according to legal experts and company representatives.

The legislation is a reaction from key House and Senate Democrats to a Supreme Court decision in January that struck down a portion of the nation's campaign funding laws, allowing corporations to freely contribute to political campaigns.

Trade group hires Dem lawyer to lobby on campaign finance

rsillman — Mon, 8 Mar 2010 12:24:01 -0500

A trade association for foreign-owned U.S. subsidiaries has hired a former Democratic Party lawyer to lobby on campaign finance reform legislation working its way through Congress.

Joseph Birkenstock, a former chief counsel for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), has registered to lobby for the Organization for International Investment (OFII) on legislation intended to counteract a recent Supreme Court ruling.

Watchdog groups have criticized the high court’s decision in the Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission case and Democrats on Capitol Hill are seeking a legislative response that would limit its impact on elections.

A sickness unto death

rsillman — Mon, 8 Mar 2010 12:27:44 -0500

In the slow, miserable, heartbreaking decline of the American democracy, there came a moment of irreversibility. For me, and I dare to think history will confirm, it was the Supreme Court's decision last month in Citizens United vs. The Federal Election Commission — the ruling that basically overturned all limits on financial expenditures by corporations and other interests in federal election campaigns.

States rush to catch up with campaign finance ruling

rsillman — Fri, 5 Mar 2010 12:10:15 -0500

Arizona is moving quickly to rewrite its laws in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows corporations and labor unions to spend money directly on political campaigns, but a handful of states might be in legal limbo until after the 2010 elections.

More than a half-dozen states have major questions hanging over their campaign finance laws after the Supreme Court’s January ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which found that bans on direct spending by corporations and unions in political campaigns are unconstitutional.

Dems want `soft money' for redistricting

rsillman — Fri, 5 Mar 2010 12:14:01 -0500

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress may soon be back in the business of raising soft money, the unlimited corporate and union donations that a 2002 law bans them from collecting for their campaigns.

The National Democratic Redistricting Trust is asking the Federal Election Commission to let lawmakers raise soft money for the legal fights likely to develop as congressional district boundaries are redrawn after this year's census. How a district is drawn — and which voters are included in it — can have a big impact on whether a Democrat or Republican gets elected to represent it.

Unity08 Wins Ruling on Election Regulations

rsillman — Fri, 5 Mar 2010 12:12:09 -0500

(CN) - Unity08, "a kind of would-be post-partisan political party," isn't subject to regulation as a political committee, the D.C. Circuit ruled, because the group doesn't endorse a "clearly identified candidate."

The group planned on setting up an online nominating process to choose a mixed ticket of one Republican and one Democrat for the 2008 presidential election.

Lawyer: J.J. Cafaro to plead guilty

rsillman — Wed, 3 Mar 2010 11:23:32 -0500

John J. Cafaro, the recently retired vice president of the Cafaro Co., will be arraigned here at 10 a.m. March 17 before U.S. District Judge John R. Adams on a charge of falsifying campaign contribution information.

Cafaro’s lawyer, Ralph E. Cascarilla of Cleveland, said Cafaro, 58, of Hubbard, intends to plead guilty to making a materially false statement concerning a contribution to the unsuccessful 2004 congressional campaign of his daughter, Capri Cafaro.

The elder Cafaro caused an official of his daughter’s congressional campaign to falsely report he had given only $2,000 to her campaign, when, in fact, he gave an additional $10,000 in the form of a loan to an unidentified campaign staff member for the campaign’s benefit, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Businesses making campaign contributions should give up tax breaks, lawmakers say

rsillman — Thu, 4 Mar 2010 11:20:26 -0500

Iowa would withhold business incentives or tax breaks to any corporation that makes independent expenditures to influence political campaigns, under a proposed amendment to a bill being considered by lawmakers.

Opponents said the proposal, if approved, would run counter to the constitutional right of free speech.

“It sounds to me that they’re trying tax corporations for exercising their right to free speech. You can’t put a tax on exercise of a constitutional right,” sand Randall Wilson, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa.

Welch backs campaign finance reform bill

rsillman — Tue, 2 Mar 2010 12:27:44 -0500

SOUTH BURLINGTON -- New federal legislation that would impose limits on election spending by special interests won a ringing endorsement Monday by U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and three private-sector representatives.

The legislation was introduced in the U.S. House and Senate in an effort to counteract a U.S. Supreme Court decision in January that lifted longtime restrictions on corporate and union campaign contributions.

Politicians Have Numerous Options for Unused Campaign Cash After Leaving Elected Office

rsillman — Tue, 2 Mar 2010 12:36:01 -0500

The recent retirement announcement of U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) shook Capitol Hill.

Bayh had been polling strong and was expected to win re-election to a third term. He has also been fund-raising like he was running for re-election, generating nearly $9 million since his last election in 2004. His campaign committee boasts nearly $13 million in cash on hand. But Bayh had had enough of electoral politics, he said.

So now that Bayh is leaving elected office when his term ends early next year, where does all that money go?

Return of Stanford’s contributions sought

rsillman — Mon, 1 Mar 2010 11:58:16 -0500

Campaign committees for the Democratic and Republican parties are being sued for more than $1.6 million in contributions alleged to have been stolen from people in Louisiana and elsewhere.

At the center of the dispute is Texas promoter Robert Allen Stanford, 59, who is in federal custody in Houston. Stanford is under indictment for allegedly masterminding worldwide investment frauds totaling more than $7 billion.

Decision Could Allow Anonymous Political Contributions by Businesses

rsillman — Mon, 1 Mar 2010 11:55:59 -0500

The Supreme Court decision last month allowing corporations to spend unlimited money on behalf of political candidates left a loophole that campaign finance lawyers say could allow companies to pay for extensive political advertising while avoiding the disclosure requirements the court appeared to leave intact.

Experts say the ruling, along with a pair of earlier Supreme Court cases, makes it possible for corporations and unions to donate anonymously to nonprofit civic leagues and trade associations. The groups can then use the money to finance the types of political advertisements that were at the heart of last month’s ruling, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

Lawmakers squirrel away cash

rsillman — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:16:41 -0500

Rep. Frank Pallone is sitting on $3.9 million in campaign contributions — the richest war chest in the House — and he won’t need much of it to win reelection in November.

The New Jersey congressman has already given the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee the $100,000 in dues he owes for the year, and he doesn’t plan to hand over a penny more than is required of him.

Reactions to Citizens United Persist

rsillman — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:56:47 -0500

The American Constitution Society (ACS) hosted an event to discuss the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Five panelists assessed the prospects for congressional legislation. Not surprisingly, their opinions diverged on the ruling's long-term impact. There are numerous practical and constitutional issues involved in passing any of the bills introduced and it is doubtful whether or not legislators would even be able to agree on any of the proposals.

FEC Approves Advisory Opinion, Approves NPRM on Standards of Conduct

rsillman — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:13:35 -0500

WASHINGTON – At its open meeting today, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) approved an Advisory Opinion and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Standards of Conduct.

In Advisory Opinion 2010-01 (Nevada State Democratic Party), the Commission concluded that proposed payments by the State Party for campaign materials to be used in connection with volunteer activities on behalf of a Federal candidate before the Nevada 2010 primary election would be exempt from the definitions of “contribution” and “expenditure” if the candidate is the State Party’s presumptive nominee. Candidate filing closes on March 12, 2010. If a Candidate is unopposed after that date he is the presumptive nominee. Only volunteer activities which take place after that date qualify for the exemption.

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Standards of Conduct proposes possible revisions and supplements to the agency’s current rules governing the conduct of Commissioners and Commission employees.

Campaign Legal Fees Increasing

rsillman — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:15:23 -0500

Congressional campaigns are spending more on legal services, according to a Roll Call analysis of Federal Election Commission data.

That analysis, based on payments to a variety of law firms favored by Members for assistance with campaign law or ethics matters, including Perkins Coie and Wiley Rein, shows a significant increase in spending between the 2005-06 cycle and the end of 2009.

Spending at those law firms by incumbent lawmakers’ re-election committees and political action committees totaled at least $5.69 million in the 2007-08 cycle, up from $2.26 million in the previous cycle.

Questions arise about half-million Murtha left in his campaign coffers

rsillman — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:46:55 -0500

John Murtha’s advisers are scratching their heads over what to do with the half-million dollars left over in his campaign coffers.

The Pennsylvania Democrat’s untimely death earlier this month gives his advisers serious latitude in how to spend the lawmaker’s campaign cash.

It’s the same case for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) campaign committee, which is sitting on more than $4 million in cash.

Right now, Murtha’s political bank accounts have been frozen, according to Patrick McGlynn, Murtha’s deputy treasurer.

Opinions Differ on Future Under Citizens United

rsillman — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:12:34 -0500

On one point, they were unanimous. The five panelists speaking at the National Press Club on Wednesday agreed that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission is unlikely to drastically change the campaign finance landscape in the 2010 election.

On the ruling’s long-term implications, their opinions diverged.

Dodd Unveils Bill to Reverse Citizens United Decision

rsillman — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:07:57 -0500

Senate Democrats fired off their first legislative response Wednesday to a recent Supreme Court decision overruling restrictions on outside political spending.

The proposal introduced by Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) would grant lawmakers the sole constitutional right to set federal campaign finance standards.

In January, the high court narrowly tossed out a decades-old ban on television ad buys and other independent expenditures by corporations, unions and nonprofit organizations in the weeks before primaries and general elections.

Groups Want Corp. Disclosure

rsillman — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:13:42 -0500

Shareholder and advocacy groups launched a letter-writing campaign Wednesday seeking corporate disclosure of all political contributions made with company funds in response to the Supreme Court's January decision enabling unlimited business spending on elections.

Shareholder Advocates Urge Disclosure of Political Spending

rsillman — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:10:05 -0500

The Center for Political Accountability, the Council of Institutional Investors and a number of shareholder advocacy groups have launched a letter-writing campaign urging companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to disclose all political contributions they make with corporate funds.

Currently, 73 S&P 500 companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Merck, United Technologies, eBay, Aetna and Microsoft, make such disclosures, they said.