“Internet Ad Rules Bring Together Strange Bedfellows”
Eliza Newlin Carney for TAP.
Category Archives: campaign finance
Unanimous En Banc DC Circuit Rejects Challenge to Separate Federal Campaign Contribution Limits in Primary and General Election Campaigns
This one always struck me as a weird challenge, and today, per Judge Srinivasan, the D.C. Circuit, sitting en banc, unanimously rejected the argument:
Congress’s choice of a per-election structure thus is not a “prophylaxis-upon-prophylaxis”—a second anti-corruption measure layered… Continue reading
“Amending the Johnson Amendment in the Age of Cheap Speech”
Ellen Aprill has posted this important draft on SSRN (forthcoming University of Illinois Law Review On-Line). Here is the abstract:
On November 2, 2017, the House Ways and Means Committee released its proposed tax reform legislation. It includes a provision… Continue reading
“Blowing Up Democracy and Charities in One Fell Swoop”
Eliza Newlin Carney:
By essentially repealing the so-called Johnson Amendment, a tax provision that bars charities from engaging in partisan politics, the House legislation frees up big donors to funnel even more unlimited, undisclosed money into campaigns, and, for the… Continue reading
“In Tax Debate, Gift to Religious Right Could Be Bargaining Chip”
NYT:
Among the changes in the tax bill that passed the House this month is a provision to roll back the 1954 ban, a move that is championed by the religious right, but opposed by thousands of religious and nonprofit… Continue reading
“Republicans Are Candid About the True Price of the Tax Bill”
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy:
Republican contributors were not amused by the Senate’s lack of accomplishment and withheld money for the 2018 campaign. Donations to Senate Republicans went from $7 million in March to only $2 million in July and August, “a… Continue reading
“Don’t Let Candidates Know Their Donors”
Jerry Goldfeder with an NYT letter to the editor.
“How did the DNC fall into a fundraising hole so deep as to need a life-line from the Clinton campaign to begin with?”
Dan Weiner on Donna Brazile and the DNC.
Much Russian Activity Meddling in 2016 Elections Likely Didn’t Violate Federal Law, Wouldn’t Be Covered by Proposed “Honest Ads Act,” and May Be Beyond (Conservative Justices’ Views of) Constitution to Limit
I’ve already hinted at some of these things in this Politico piece, but I’ve now fleshed it out in the latest draft of my forthcoming First Amendment Law Review article, Cheap Speech and What It Has Done (to American Democracy… Continue reading
“Bipartisan Harvard panel recommends hacking safeguards for elections”
Reuters:
A bipartisan Harvard University project aimed at protecting elections from hacking and propaganda will release its first set of recommendations today on how U.S. elections can be defended from hacking attacks.
The 27-page guidebook shown to Reuters ahead of… Continue reading
“The Trump-Russia-WikiLeaks Alliance and Campaign Finance Laws”
Bob Bauer for Just Security:
The WikiLeaks-Trump Jr. correspondence has passed through this round of commentary. I thought that these Twitter exchanges unquestionably deepened the campaign’s legal exposure to liability for aiding illicit foreign national activity in U.S. elections. It… Continue reading
“Election officials move closer to placing new rules on Facebook and Google”
Washington Post:
The Federal Election Commission moved a step closer to placing tighter regulations on Internet ads published on major Web platforms, marking a significant shift for an agency beset by partisan dysfunction and another sign that regulators are seeking… Continue reading
“Seattle’s Democracy Vouchers Reduce the Power of Big Money and Expand Political Participation”
Every Voice:
Seattle’s Democracy Voucher Program is achieving its intended goals by generating historic numbers of new and small donors, diversifying the makeup of campaign supporters to better reflect the people of Seattle, and limiting the reliance on big money… Continue reading