What can those new Super PACs do with their money. Stephen Colbert's ad with presidential candidate Buddy Roemer gives you the clue. Meanwhile, Larry Lessig of Rootstrikers is joining with Dylan Ratigan's "Get Money Out" to create a new organization to work against special-interest control of government: United Republic. Lessig also has a new book out about the corrupting [...]
Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch recently interviewed Bob Hall, our executive director, for his radio show. Their brief audio conversation amounts to a quick tour through Democracy NC’s hot topics: Duke Energy buying an inside track for its rate hike and merger, the dirt you find when you dig into piles of special-interest money, [...]
Following the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, the Federal Election Commission relaxed more of its rules to regulate political spending. Wealthy individuals and trade groups, as well as corporations and unions, now have a wide variety of ways to exert even more influence over an election’s outcome. The New York Times boils the campaign finance [...]
The Pew Center on the States has a new on-line service called Election Data Dispatches. It’s billed as a round-up of the best stories, data, research and analysis about what's involved in administering elections across the 50 states, what works, what needs improvement, etc - from voter registration to ballot design to election costs. Check [...]
Which companies are doing the best job of disclosing their political spending to their stockholders and the public? For several years, the Center for Political Accountability has led a growing campaign to make the biggest publicly traded companies see the wisdom in opening their books and lowering their exposure to the kind of attack that [...]
The State Auditor’s office issued a report criticizing the State Board of Elections’ failure to process campaign finance reports in a timely manner and hold late report filers accountable. Democracy NC has identified similar problems, including our May report pointing out that 42% of the campaign reports for the legislative winners in 2010 had not [...]
Two national campaign reform groups are asking the IRS to take away the tax-exempt status of 501(c)(4) organizations that are electioneering shells, not genuine “social welfare” organizations as required by law. The letter challenges four Republican- and Democratic-leaning non-profits. Democracy NC has promoted this approach to cope with the expanded use of non-profits after the [...]
Two more developments in the evolving world after the Citizens United decision: One is a legislative response by the Congressional brain trust of Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD). They have introduced a bill that calls for an amendment to the US Constitution to give Congress and the states authority to regulate [...]
Rep. Steve LaRoque’s home newspaper in Kinston got him to talk about the Policy Watch investigation of his use of two government-funded nonprofits to benefit himself, his family, and his political associates. The paper is owned by the Libertarian-leaning Freedom Communications chain, so it is noteworthy that the story didn’t end when LaRoque dismissed everything [...]
Practical lobbyists in Washington are telling their clients to open their checkbooks because their ox may be gored by the Super 12 – the yet-to-be-named bipartisan committee of US Senators and Representatives who will recommend where to make additional budget cuts of at least $1.2 trillion. One lobbyist said he’s writing 12 big checks to [...]