The posts in this category discuss our core issues.
Do you think it’s hopeless to challenge the advantage of big money in politics, especially after the Citizens United decision? Mark Schmitt points out that programs that amplify the power of small donors with “clean” public grants or matching money are effectively giving candidates the resources to wage viable campaigns. And even after CU, the [...]
Here’s a statement from Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina: Today, the NC Republican House leadership announced a process to hear comments from the public and move toward adoption of legislation that would require voters to show a photo ID before voting, if they vote in person. Legislators say that the bill will [...]
Back in the mid-1990s, when oil companies were whining about cheap prices and low profits, Congress decided to waive the federal royalties to encourage new wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Now that oil profits are soaring and prices have jumped from under $12 to over $100 a barrel, do you think the oil companies [...]
True the Vote likes to portray its mission as exposing voter fraud and protecting election integrity. Improvements can be made in the election system, but too often vigilante protectors wind up creating more fraud than they prevent. Case in point is a new report from True the Vote that aims to debunk “the myth of [...]
The Election Law Blog features lawyerly commentary on the yesterday’s slugfest in the US Supreme Court over the Voting Rights Act . It looks like the Voting Rights Act lost based on the nasty questions and remarks by the majority of justices. For more coverage, you can scroll to the previous or following pages of [...]
Soon after donating $100,000 to Obama's 2013 inaugural committee, the Southern Company announced it was “newly optimistic” about prospects for gaining an $8.3 billion loan guarantee from the federal government for building a new nuclear power plant. Is a quid pro quo involved here, asks Public Citizen. Answer: “We need more information to answer that [...]
The hearing has begun at this hour to consider a motion to approve or throw out the challenge to the redistricting plans adopted by the NC General Assembly. You can follow this today on the WRAL-TV web where the video of the hearing is streaming along. The arguments today are between the lawyers for the [...]
If you think some of the shenanigans by heavyweights like Duke Energy and the NC General Assembly are beyond wacko, you’re not alone. Uncle Sam may have your back. The federal government has a way of slowing down implementation of many unethical practices, which should encourage you to speak up, too. In the case of Duke Energy, the [...]
Greenpeace looked at the campaign money Duke Energy and Progress Energy have donated to the legislative sponsors of the bill to immediately replace all the members of the Utilities Commission and several other regulatory boards with GOP appointee. Seven of the 12 sponsors and co-sponsors received a total of $147,000 from the two utilities in [...]
WRAL-TV has created a searchable database of the major stockholdings listed by NC legislators and other state officials on their ethics disclosure forms. For example, eight legislators disclosed owning at least $10,000 worth of stock in Duke Energy or Progress Energy – although the amounts may be much higher, and smaller amounts held by others [...]