Former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley walked away from court today with the long federal and state investigation finally ended. The US Attorney and a special state prosecutor, both Republicans, agreed to let Easley plead guilty to one felony charge of falsely certifying a campaign disclosure report that omitted details about one airplane flight, a class I [...]
The Associated Press and News & Observer are reporting this afternoon that former Gov. Mike Easley has agreed to a plea deal to settle a federal and state investigation into possible corruption while he was in public office. A hearing about the deal will be held in Wake County court at noon tomorrow. Stay tuned for [...]
While partisan opponents of “Voter-Owned Elections” will control the NC General Assembly next year, other parts of the nation will experience new advances for public campaign financing. West Virginia reformers held an event this week to celebrate that state’s new pilot program for Supreme Court elections, and Maine reformers threw a 10th birthday party yesterday [...]
An alliance of six national good government groups are pushing the lame-duck Congress to pass a stripped down version of the DISCLOSE Act. The original bill went beyond just requiring disclosure of the major donors to electioneering committees; it would have banned election spending by subsidiaries of foreign corporations, large government contractors, and businesses owing [...]
A disclosure provision in the financial reform law is providing an unusual window into how special interests lobby federal regulators for special relief. “Relax that rule or you’ll put us out of business.” “If you do that, we won’t be able to compete with foreign companies.” “To level the playing field, you should exempt us, [...]
Here are two quick overviews of the impact of the Republican victories on redistricting in the state and nationally. In North Carolina, the General Assembly will redraw the lines for state legislative and Congressional districts; the governor has no veto authority or any other role. In addition, each local governmental body is responsible for using [...]
The mega-millionaires who financed Congressional elections this year want a spectacular payoff: a tax break worth tens of billions each year. This is the essence of pay-to-play corruption: money paid, special benefits returned. Even though the Congressional winners say investing in jobs is the top priority, they seem ready to fork over billions more to [...]
A preliminary analysis of fundraising by NC General Assembly candidates shows that Republicans were far more successful in the 2010 cycle than in previous elections. Many of them doubled their income from 2008, outraised their opponents, and funneled the donations to colleagues in tight races. Democrats raised substantial money, too, but several of their top [...]
The good folks at NC Policy Watch have put together a baker’s dozen of targets the new Republican majority aims to destroy when they take their seats in the 2011 NC General Assembly. At the top of the hit list is Fair Elections. The goal of the new majority is apparently to gut public campaign financing [...]
All locally elected bodies in North Carolina, including school boards, county commissions and city councils, must put in place a code of ethical conduct and receive ethical training by January 1, 2011. This article from Wilkes County outlines the requirements, core elements and considerable leeway involved in this new state law adopted by the General [...]