Category Archives: campaign finance

Citizens United Makes Cameo Appearance in SCOTUS Reed v. Gilbert Signs Case Today

June 18, 2015, 7:32 pmcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

I’m a little surprised Justice Sotomayor did not distance herself from this aspect of Justice Thomas’s majority opinion in Reed v. Gilbert today: In any case, the fact that a distinction is speaker based does not, as the Court of… Continue reading

Hillary Clinton’s Focus on Voting Rights and Campaign Finance

June 18, 2015, 2:06 pmcampaign finance, The Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Detailed on her web page here. David Donnelly sees “weak tea” so far.

“Corporations are people. But are FEC commissioners people too?”

June 18, 2015, 1:58 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

WaPo.

“Public Citizen Refiles Petition for FEC Commissioners Who Were Rebuffed by Their Own Agency”

June 18, 2015, 1:55 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Press release. Make Your Laws has done the same.

The Ballot Measure Business is Big

June 18, 2015, 9:22 amcampaign finance, direct democracyRick Hasen

CPI: Active in the 26 states that have citizen-initiated ballot measures, the network of pollsters, direct mail specialists, lawyers, consultants, signature gatherers and voting data whizzes were paid at least $400 million for 85 statewide measures across the country… Continue reading

“Presidential candidates defy campaign finance limits through well-funded outside groups”

June 18, 2015, 8:49 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

AP: Republican Jeb Bush and Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton are asking donors to write the checks to get their campaigns started. Yet these “new” candidates have been fueling their presidential ambitions for months — years, in Clinton’s case — thanks… Continue reading

Murphy: Super PAC Donors are “Killers;” Cannot Coordinate “Any More” with Jeb! But “Well-Informed” as of Last Week

June 17, 2015, 3:14 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Mike Murphy on the crashed Right to Rise super pac conference call: “So I can tell you, we are excited,” Murphy continued. “And, just keep doing what you’re doing. And I keep coming back to this pitch, because, like any… Continue reading

Today’s Must Read: Mann and Dionne, “The Futility of Nostalgia and the Romanticism of the New Political Realists”

June 17, 2015, 8:24 amcampaign finance, Plutocrats United, theoryRick Hasen

Tom Mann and EJ Dionne take on Rauch, Pildes, Cain, LaRaja and Persily. This is a very important contribution to a key debate about the reform project. It is the best explanation of the ironic romanticism in the anti-reform camp. … Continue reading

“Writing Campaign Finance Rules: Between ‘Thorough’ Regulation or None at All”

June 17, 2015, 7:54 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Bauer’s latest.

“Shareholders press for information about political spending”

June 17, 2015, 7:50 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

David Nicklaus column.

“Pillar of Law Institute Files Brief in Washington Free Speech Case”

June 17, 2015, 7:49 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Release: The Pillar of Law Institute filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the United States Supreme Court today in the case Utter v. Building Industry Association of Washington(BIAW), urging the Court to hear the case and reinforce free speech protections… Continue reading

Nice Review of Mutch’s Buying the Vote in American Historical Review

June 16, 2015, 7:29 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Here. From the conclusion: Good books leave the reader wanting more and help set an agenda for future scholarship, and Mutch has written a very good book. He takes as a given the premise that wealth inherently corrupts politics… Continue reading

“CLC Blog: Charles Fried and Trevor Potter Respond to Wall Street Journal Editorial Attacking CLC’s Work”

June 16, 2015, 7:01 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Here.

Right to Rise PAC Disclaimers Buried in Jeb Bush Campaign Page Source Code [corrected]

June 16, 2015, 6:58 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

What? Correction: The disclaimers actually appear to be for Bush’s leadership PAC, not the super PAC. Why the confusion? Note the similarity in the names: Leadership: http://righttorisepac.org/ Super: https://righttorisesuperpac.org/ Note: the original headline said it was code related to… Continue reading