NewsTrust - Campaign Finance - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Mainstream)

Liberals put the squeeze to Justice Roberts

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By George Will - May. 26 (Opinion) - In one of his characteristic conniptions about people who frustrated him, Theodore Roosevelt, progressivism’s first president, said of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, “I could carve out of a banana a judge with more backbone than that.” TR was as mistaken about Holmes’s spine as are various progressives today about Chief Justice John Roberts’s. They are waging an embarrassingly obvious campaign, hoping he will buckle beneath the pressure of their disapproval and declare Obamacare constitutional. The crucial question is whether Congress exceeded its enumerated power to regulate interstate commerce when it mandated that individuals engage in commerce by purchasing health insurance.

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The Most Powerful Special Interest in Washington: The Acronym

Sun, 20 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Micah Cohen - May. 20 (Opinion) - A linguistic plague is creeping through the nation's capital - the "bacronym," where a PAC or bill name is chosen so that the initial letters of each word form a desired word.

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In Campaign Financing, More Money Can Beat Big Money

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Lawrence Lessig - Nov. 17 (Opinion) - A public funding system would stop the influence of big money in politics.

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David Graeber, the Anti-Leader of Occupy Wall Street

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Business Week - Oct. 27 (Opinion) -

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In money race, it'€™s advantage Democrats

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Politico - By Kenneth P. Vogel - Aug. 24 (Opinion) - Republicans seem positively gleeful these days about their prospects headed into 2012, buoyed by a new Gallup Poll showing a handful of Republican presidential hopefuls within striking distance of President Barack Obama as well as some recent predictions that the GOP will hold the House and could take the Senate. Yet despite all the apparent momentum, the three national party committees tasked with ushering Republicans to victory trail their Democratic counterparts in raising money for 2012, and the disparity is causing some Republicans to fret privately about whether their party committees could dim an otherwise bright outlook.

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What John Edwards meant

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Chris Cillizza - Jun. 03 (Opinion) - The indictment of John Edwards on campaign finance charges amounts to a final chapter — or close to it — in the political life of the former North Carolina senator and two-time presidential candidate. While it’s long been clear that Edwards’ political career is over, there has been relatively little written about what the man meant to the Democratic party he sought to lead.

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Who Will Stand Up to the Superrich?

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Frank Rich - Nov. 14 (Opinion) - It’s the very top earners, not your garden variety, entrepreneurial multimillionaires, who will be by far the biggest beneficiaries if there’s an extension of the expiring Bush-era tax cuts for income over $200,000 a year (for individuals) and $250,000 (for couples). The resurgent G.O.P. has vowed to fight to the end to award this bonanza, but that may hardly be necessary given the timid opposition of President Obama and the lame-duck Democratic Congress.

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Actually, Americans do care about corporate campaign cash

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Katrina vanden Heuvel - Nov. 10 (Opinion) - In Sunday's Post, former congressman and head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Martin Frost said that corporate campaign money is "something the average voter couldn't care less about" and that Congress should "leave campaign finance reform to the wine-and-cheese crowd." That's an obscene and false statement. It's exactly the "wine-and-cheese crowd" that the American people are concerned about -- wealthy Washington special interests that get to buy access and influence with politicians, drowning out the voice of everyday Americans.

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Our Divisive President, Redux

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Patrick H. Caddell, Douglas E. Schoen - Oct. 30 (Opinion) - We write in sadness as traditional liberal Democrats who believe in inclusion. Like many Americans, we had hoped that Obama would maintain the spirit in which he campaigned. Instead, since taking office, he has pitted group against group for short-term political gain that is exacerbating the divisions in our country and weakening our national identity.The culture of attack politics and demonization risks compromising our ability to address our most important issues - and the stature of our nation's highest office.

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Subvertizers? Name The New Breed Of Political Group

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

NPR - By Andrea Seabrook - Oct. 23 (Opinion) - All sorts of jargon exists for specific kinds of political campaigners. Party committees are groups like the Democratic National Committee. Candidate committees are Friends of Joe Smith or Jane Doe for Congress. The term "special interests" is generally used to describe a group with one industry or cause at its core, like the National Manufacturers Association or the Sierra Club. But what about this relatively new breed of political group that does not have to disclose its funders? The groups are organized as nonprofit organizations under the tax code and therefore can take in donations of any size and keep the donors' names secret. In our series on the hidden money in politics this season, Peter Overby and I have been unhappy with every title out there. "Third-party groups" is misleading — they're almost all either pro-Republican or pro-Democrat. That's also the reason why "independent groups" doesn't work.

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Fear and Favor

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Paul Krugman - Oct. 03 (Opinion) - As Politico recently pointed out, every major contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination who isn’t currently holding office and isn’t named Mitt Romney is now a paid contributor to Fox News. Now, media moguls have often promoted the careers and campaigns of politicians they believe will serve their interests. But directly cutting checks to political favorites takes it to a whole new level of blatancy.

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Blagojevich and Legal Bribery

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Scott Turow - Aug. 17 (Opinion) - i suspect the jury's indecision might have been a reaction at some level to the hypocritical mess our campaign financing system has become....

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Seven Things Republicans Were For Before They Were Against Them

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Politics Daily - Jul. 11 (Opinion) - Filed under: Republicans, John McCain, Economy, Budget, Deficit, Campaign Finance, Mitch McConnell, Climate Change, ImmigrationFrom cap-and-trade to deficit spending to immigration, Republicans have changed their minds about a host of issues in the last 18 months. Coincidence? Not likely.?Permalink?|?Email this?|?Linking?Blogs?|?Comments

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A better path to campaign-finance reform

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By David S. Broder - Jun. 24 (Opinion) - What began as a well-intentioned effort to deal with the consequences of the miserable Supreme Court decision expanding special-interest influence in election campaigns has turned into a roiling mess for the Democrats. There is a better way.

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The Old Enemies

Mon, 24 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Paul Krugman - May. 24 (Opinion) - Corporate America, however, really, truly hates the current administration. Wall Street, for example, is in “a state of bitter, seething, hysterical fury” toward the president, writes John Heilemann of New York magazine. What’s going on?

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How to turn Congress Inc. back to just Congress

Wed, 12 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Katrina vanden Heuvel - May. 12 (Opinion) - Americans must fight back with legislation that will help organized people defeat organized money. ...the Fair Elections Now Act.....The bill would bar participating congressional candidates from accepting contributions larger than $100 and allow them to run honest campaigns with a blend of small donations and public matching funds. ...Sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin and Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), the bill has 18 Senate co-sponsors (12 of whom signed on since the Citizens United decision) and 149 bipartisan cosponsors in the House.

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Two Democrats' remedy for the high court's campaign finance ruling

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Post - Feb. 16 (Editorial) - THERE IS no simple legislative fix to the Supreme Court's unfortunate recent decision allowing corporations to spend money directly advocating the election or defeat of federal candidates. The court's 5-4 decision was grounded in the First Amendment; consequently, the congressional response is inevitably limited. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) unveiled an important proposal last week designed to address the most fixable aspects of the ruling in time for the 2010 election.

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John McCain, no more the iconoclast

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Dana Milbank - Feb. 06 (Opinion) - I miss the McCain I sat with on a flight from San Diego to Phoenix back in 1999, when he defended his oft-ridiculed belief that campaign finance was the most important issue in America: because the corrupting influence of money in politics was preventing all other issues -- taxes, abortion, you name it -- from being solved.

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Campaign finance: a 'reform' wisely struck down

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By George F. Will - Jan. 28 (Opinion) - Last week's Supreme Court decision that substantially deregulates political speech has provoked an edifying torrent of hyperbole. Critics' dismay reveals their conviction: Speech about the elections that determine the government's composition is not a constitutional right but a mere privilege that exists at the sufferance of government.

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Editorial: Adjust state laws after election ruling

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Minneapolis Star Tribune - Jan. 27 (Editorial) - Reduced to their ideal core, Minnesota political campaigns are conversations between candidates and voters. State campaign laws -- some ancient, some devised after Watergate showed how the conversation could be distorted by big money and unscrupulous players -- have worked fairly well to keep candidates and voters in control of their exchange.

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The Trial of John Roberts

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Jeffrey Rosen - Sep. 13 (Opinion) - A campaign finance case in the Supreme Court could tell us if Chief Justice Roberts will be remembered as the next John Marshall or Earl Warren.

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Free Speech and ‘Hillary: The Movie’

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - Sep. 09 (Interview) - Does the application of campaign finance laws to “Hillary: The Movie” violate free speech rights? What are the implications for electoral politics if the Supreme Court rules in favor of Citizens United?

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Campaign-spending case will be a big test for Chief Justice Roberts

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Times - By E. J. Dionne - Sep. 08 (Opinion) - The full impact of what the U.S. Supreme Court could do in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has only begun to receive the attention it deserves. Will the court use a case originally brought on a narrow issue to bring our politics back to the corruption of the Gilded Age?

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A Threat to Fair Elections

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - Sep. 08 (Editorial) - The Supreme Court has upheld the limitations on corporate campaign expenditures in the past. If they open the floodgates now, corporations will have a huge say in who wins federal elections.

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A Century-Old Principle - Keep Corporate Money Out of Elections

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - Aug. 11 (Editorial) - There are worrying signs that there may well be five votes on the Supreme Court to rule that the ban on corporate contributions violates the First Amendment.

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