Clips Round-up for 7/01/11

Submitted by akumar@publicam... on Fri, 07/01/2011 - 14:05

Fair Elections/Campaign Finance
In Surprise Ruling, FEC Won’t Let Candidates Raise For Super PACs
“In a unanimous vote, the Federal Election Commission ruled Thursday that members of Congress and federal candidates cannot raise funds for independent expenditure committees beyond the federal limit of $5,000.”

Stephen Colbert Gets FEC Permission to Form “Super” PAC
The FEC’s new favorite witness, Stephen Colbert, was granted a narrow media exemption yesterday.
“In a 5-1 vote, the agency ruled that Mr. Colbert's staff at Comedy Central can help his political organization produce campaign ads but only if the ads air as part of his comedy program.”

Is the FEC Clowning Around with Campaign Decisions?
Speaking of the FEC…their track record hasn’t been too great as of late.
 
Ethics, Politics, and the Law
The New York Times calls for a code of ethics for U.S. Supreme Court justices.
“It struck down public matching funds in Arizona’s campaign finance system, showing again a contempt for laws that provide some balance to the unlimited amounts of money flooding the political system.”
 
Another Blow to Campaign Finance Reform
The Los Angeles Times editorializes on the McComish decision (reprinted in the Sacramento Bee):
Referring the the majority’s arguments – “But those arguments are entirely unpersuasive. As Justice Elena Kagan noted in her dissent, the Arizona law did not set a limit on how much candidates who opted out or their supporters could spend to convey their messages. In fact, rather than restricting or "burdening" anyone's First Amendment rights, the law actually expanded free speech by providing extra funds for additional speech.”
 
Campaign Financing Dead in Wisconsin
“Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, a nonprofit watchdog group, says there was not much value left in the state’s underfunded program. Still, he calls it ‘pretty shocking and amazing that Wisconsin was one of the first states in the nation to institute a public financing system and now we have become the first state that I know of to eliminate public financing.’”
 
Our View:  New York Reminds us of What Alabama Needs to do About the Growing Influence of Money in Judicial Elections
The Birmingham News editorial board praises the new standards applied to New York Judges and argues that Alabama needs similar standards in place.
 
Congress/2012
G.O.P. Candidates’ Fundraising Starts Slowly
“Fund-raising by the Republican presidential candidates appears to be off to a slow start this year, hindered by the struggling economy, the absence of a clear and compelling front-runner, and the desire of many of the party’s biggest donors to wait and see how the race develops.”
 
Obama 2012 Campaign Says it Exceeds 480,000 Donors
“A Democratic official said most of this year's 480,000 donors had contributed small amounts.”

So Far, Obama is Retaining His Wall Street Cred
Public shunning and private support?

  • “Although many of the biggest name financiers feel that they can’t publicly support Obama through campaign contributions the way they did in 2008 — “it would be bad for business,” one brand-name CEO of a major bank acknowledged — some still plan to vote for him. And some begrudgingly acknowledged that they don’t yet see a viable alternative to Obama among the Republican slate.”

Other
Stephen Colbert for Supreme Court Justice!
Common Cause President Bob Edgar has this piece focusing on satire in Politico.
 
Money’s Clout
The News & Observer editorializes on the problem of corporate contributions and influence.

  • “This way lies disaster. If it's where we're headed, expect many more special-interest bills to emerge from the legislature - and good luck in figuring out who's behind them.“