Category Archives: campaign finance

“Resolved: Citizens United Was Wrongly Decided”

May 7, 2015, 3:55 pmcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

National Constitution Center on the road in Boston: Resolved: Citizens United Was Wrongly Decided Tuesday, May 12, 2015 5:30 p.m. Cocktails | 6:30 p.m. Debate John Adams Courthouse, Boston, MA Join us a lively debate on the merits and drawbacks… Continue reading

“Van Hollen, Price, Udall Push Plan to Mend Presidential Campaign Public Financing System”

May 7, 2015, 1:33 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Press release. [corrected link]

Questions of the Day: Super PAC Edition

May 7, 2015, 8:19 amcampaign finance, election law "humor", Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Via the Onion: Q: What is the purpose of super PACs? A: To counteract the excessive influence ordinary voters exert on U.S. elections…. Q: Isn’t it true that super PACs drown out the voices of everyday Americans with their… Continue reading

“The Supreme Court said judges can’t solicit campaign contributions. This probably won’t matter”

May 7, 2015, 7:12 amcampaign finance, judicial electionsRick Hasen

Chris Bonneau and Shane Redman write at The Monkey Cage. There is much in here I agree with. What I think the authors miss, and why I touted the ruling as a big deal, is not the holding itself… Continue reading

“Inside Jeb Bush’s long game: A bet on peaking late”

May 6, 2015, 7:29 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

WaPo reports.

Another View on Dysfunction at the FEC

May 6, 2015, 7:20 pmcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

Another reader writes: Your correspondent put a strange slant on your old Slate article about Hans Von Spakovsky & the FEC. Nowhere in your article did you suggest that Hans would have acted/voted any differently than Don McGahn. You simply… Continue reading

“Hillary Clinton to Court Donors for Super PAC”

May 6, 2015, 2:46 pmcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

NYT: Hillary Rodham Clinton will begin personally courting donors for a super PAC supporting her candidacy, the first time a Democratic presidential candidate has fully embraced the independent groups that can accept unlimited checks from big donors and are… Continue reading

“Hillary Clinton Isn’t Ready to Disclose Who’s Funding Her Campaign”

May 6, 2015, 11:30 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

In a recent Slate piece, I suggested Hillary Clinton might be offering lip service on campaign finance: grandly supporting a constitutional amendment but not something that is more realistic which could actually help. Here’s a good indication from Mother Jones… Continue reading

“Leveling the Playing Field? The Role of Public Campaign Funding in Elections”

May 6, 2015, 11:26 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Tilman Klumpp, Hugo Mialon, and Michael Williams have written this article for the American Law and Economics Review. Here is the abstract: In a series of First Amendment cases, the U.S. Supreme Court established that government may regulate campaign finance,… Continue reading

“Court-Ordered Campaign Finance Deregulation and Stock Value of Contributor”

May 6, 2015, 11:22 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Haishan Yuan has written this article for the American Law and Economics Review. Here is the abstract: The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 addressed two issues, soft money and independent expenditures on issue ads for electoral advocacy. The Supreme… Continue reading

“Hillary’s Constitutional Aversion to Criticism”

May 6, 2015, 11:20 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Don McGahn’s WSJ oped: As with most campaign-finance reform measures, the Udall Amendment’s goal is to get money out of politics. It seeks to accomplish this by allowing Congress to regulate and limit how “candidates and others” raise and… Continue reading

“The SEC Pay-to-Play Rule: Lessons Learned from the Exemptive Relief Process”

May 6, 2015, 11:17 amcampaign finance, conflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

Charles E. Borden, Samuel C. Brown, and Claire N. Rajan write for The Investment Lawyer. It begins: Although Election Day is more than a year away, the 2016 election cycle has begun in earnest, with Presidential aspirants and elected officials… Continue reading

“A Revealing Leftist Defense of Wisconsin’s Shameful Political Prosecutions”

May 6, 2015, 11:12 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

David French at NRO on John Doe.

Is Dems’ Objection to Von Spakovsky the Real Source of FEC Dysfunction?

May 6, 2015, 9:21 amcampaign finance, federal election commissionRick Hasen

In response to my earlier post, a reader offers a different and very interesting perspective: You say on your blog that the “origins” of the current “dysfunction” trace to Don McGahn. “Don McGahn” may serve as a convenient origin… Continue reading