Campaign Finance Reform
“I believe the simplest way to blunt the impact of transactional donations is to incentivize ordinary citizens to make small donations that can, in aggregate, compete with the money from transactional donors. New Jersey should offer taxpayers a refundable tax credit of up to $25 per candidate with an aggregate limit of $100 per year for donations made to state or local campaigns. The tax credit would encourage small donors while making it possible for campaigns to win without the […]
Read MoreThe Chicago Sun-Times urges an end to what President Barack Obama once called “legalized bribery” in Illinois. “Converting campaign cash into personal funds is one of many ways that big-donor money gets between ordinary people and the elected officials who are supposed to represent them. It’s part of a web of dark money and flabby regulation that undermines democracy in Illinois.” To read the article in its entirety click here.
Read More“Saikat Chakrabarti, the chief of staff to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, just resigned. As her top aide, he was also under investigation for campaign finance violations, including the creation of two PACs that seemed to be operating illegally. He is being accused of setting up two companies, where roughly $1 million was funneled, in order to profit and possibly skirt campaign disclosure requirements. This points to one absurdity of the current system: Hefty financial transfers from PACs to private LLCs are not necessarily improper, […]
Read MorePolitical activists are passionate about their causes – right or left, R or D – and, while the era of social media has tainted citizen engagement as disruptive to civil discourse, the reality is that those who are highly involved form the backbone of our democracy. But, sadly, predatorial political operatives and/or con artists have manipulated the system to use those intense feelings for their own gain. They do this through political action committees that claim to be supporting a […]
Read MoreIn the 2020 race for president, South Carolina will, once again, be the place that narrows the field from survivors – those who can simply carry on from Iowa and New Hampshire – to real competitors capable of running national campaigns for their party’s nomination. However, with the ever-expanding race on the Democratic side, the feel could be significantly different than even the massive 2016 Republican field. With the number of candidates likely to reach at least the mid-twenties, South […]
Read MoreFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Jeff Clements, American Promise 617-281-5350 Rep. Ellen Read 352-978-7692 Olivia Zink, Open Democracy 603-661-8621 John Pudner, Take Back Our Republic 334-329-7258 New Hampshire Legislature Calls for Constitutional Amendment on Political Spending With a 14-10 vote, the New Hampshire General Court today became the 20th state legislature to call on Congress for a constitutional amendment allowing limits on political spending. The NH House passed the same measure in a bipartisan vote on March 7th. To date, […]
Read MoreThis morning Executive Director John Pudner outlined in New Hampshire’s Concord Monitor why New Hampshire Republicans want limits on political spending. “But entrenched political groups often benefit from the status quo and oppose reform. Even reforms supported by GOP voters. Even reforms that might help GOP candidates, such as improved disclosure of political spending. Democrats held a huge edge in secret (sometimes called “dark”) money for the first time ever in 2018. Act Blue, Soros, Bloomberg and Steyer, and […]
Read MoreHR1 just passed the House, offering sweeping campaign finance reform and many other election changes, and while there are some very good provisions, it would also create many problems, not address some of the most pressing ones, and will not pass a Republican Senate prior to the presidential election, which turns the focus to how candidates will raise their money. The following quote sums up the basic case for eliminating Super PACs: “The current system is absurd. As a candidate […]
Read MoreOur campaign finance system could generously be described as an exercise in insanity. Consider the rude reality of a system that allows the elite to dominate our elections yet silences the free speech of local membership organizations. Every election cycle you are subjugated to potentially millions of dollars of Super PAC ads – often funded by a single or a handful of individuals- that may be hostile to your worldview. You can try to avoid the ads, but, in the […]
Read MoreFederal filings through mid-November, as compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, show that among donations from the top 25 individual contributors to federal candidates, parties, political action committees, and “527” advocacy groups, $232.9 million went to Republicans and conservatives, and $236.9 million to Democrats and liberals. What about organizational spending? Consider super PACs, those curious manifestations of campaign finance law that the Center for Responsive Politics says “may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, […]
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