Fair Elections/Campaign Finance
Feingold Still Fights for Reform
"Almost nothing of our election laws is still standing," said Russ Feingold, who now heads the political action committee Progressives United. The PAC’s mission is to counter and eventually reverse the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling, which overturned the long-standing ban on corporate and union spending for independent campaign activities.
 
Alleged Pakistani Agents Charged in U.S. Lobbying Scheme
“The Pakistani government, including its notorious intelligence agency, used unregistered agents on U.S. soil to funnel millions of dollars and illegally influenced the U.S. government, the Justice Department said today.”
 
Geitner: Save Dodd-Frank
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner sees people attack the financial reforms passed last year and he is not happy about it.
“Many of those who fought reform during the legislative process are now trying to slow down and weaken rules, starve regulatory agencies of resources, and block nominations so that they can ultimately kill reform,” Geithner writes on the op-ed page of Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal.
- That op-ed can be found here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303661904576454220154404398.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
 
John Edwards May have to Repay $2M
“Edwards ended his run for the White House in January 2008, nearly three-and-a-half years ago, but he has continued spending an average of $60,000 a month. That's federal matching money, public money and money from contributors. Now, the FEC is recommending the Edwards campaign repay the money to the federal government.”
 
IRS Denies 3 Political Advocacy Groups Tax-Exempt Status
“In recent months, the I.R.S. has undertaken actions that suggested the agency had stepped up its scrutiny of these groups. The agency recently backed off inquiries into whether five major donors to such groups had paid gift taxes — a rule rarely if ever enforced. The I.R.S. said it needed to develop a broader policy before taking any individual actions.”
 
The Colbert Bump
On the power of Stephen Colbert’s influence:
“(Trevor) Potter, who steered Colbert through the FEC process, said: "Stephen's PAC is a teaching moment. People are learning what the loopholes are, and that's a good thing for a democracy. The FEC is obscure and terrifically important, and anyone who can get the country to focus on campaign finance reform is doing a public service.”
-Public Citizen’s Robert Weissman is also quoted.