Campaign Finance Reform: Campaign Issue?

Will independents be co-opted by Dems on campaign finance reform issue? I doubt it!

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

• Dem pollster: Independents want candidates to address money in politics (By Kevin Bogardus, The Hill/Ballot Box) Stan Greenberg, chairman and CEO of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and co-founder of Democracy Corps, told reporters on a conference call that voters are looking for a “reformist attack on government.”  “Independents in particular are the ones who feel the most strongly about this issue,” Greenberg said. “We should emphasize that this is not a partisan issue…"
• Yankees lobbying expenditures is a case study, for some, on why NY needs campaign finance reform (By Brandon Quinn, Legislative Gazette) Two new fronts in the war for public financing of elections opened recently, with the Center for Working Families and New York Leadership for Accountable Government launching their attacks on the campaign contribution system.

Independent News of the Day, April 26

INDEPENDENTS RISING

• Book review: Independents Rising, by Jacqueline Salit (Ken Bingenheimer, National Common Ground Examiner) Buchanan was also warned that, "if you attempt to turn this party into a right-wing party, we will destroy your campaign." He did and they did.

NYC CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

• Money Is Corrupting Our Elections -- It Can Be Stopped (Ed Koch, Huffington Post) The committee should know that while it would be very helpful to have limits on campaign contributions and expenditures in New York State and elsewhere, as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in this area of election spending limitations, a program of limitations cannot be imposed on anyone. Those covered and bound by any such laws must voluntarily agree to be bound.

CA TOP TWO

• Brad Breithaupt: Independent voters won't be on the sidelines in this primary (By Brad Breithaupt, Marin Independent Journal) VOTERS WHO decline to join any of the political parties have mostly been bystanders in picking party nominees for state and federal offices. But this year, thanks to reforms passed by voters in 2010, they're important players in selecting the candidates who will be on the ballot in November.
• 'No party preference' is new political flavor in California (By Torey Van Oot, Sac Bee) Congressional candidate Linda Parks isn't one for conventional choices. As she tells voters in a recent television ad, her favorite ice cream flavor is not chocolate or vanilla, but the nuts-and-marshmallow-loaded Rocky Road. And her chosen party preference on the June 5 ballot? "None."

IL ELECTION LAW

• Our View: Illinois, where political independents go to die (PEORIA Journal Star) House Bill 2009 quietly became law on March 30, preventing anyone who votes in a partisan primary from running for public office as an independent in the following general election (or from running under a traditional party's banner if different than the ballot pulled in the primary). Even though passage of the bill and the governor's signature came after the March 20 primary, the law is being retroactively enforced so that it impacts this year's general election.

AZ REDISTRICTING

• Supreme Court shrugs off logic - Justices' reinstatement of map-panel head was a transparent arrogation of power (by Robert Robb, The Republic) Instead, the decision is disturbing because of the arrogation of power by the court and the slippery reasoning used to justify it.

NYC MAYORAL 2013

• A controlled disagreement between Christine Quinn and Michael Bloomberg (By Azi Paybarah, Capital New York) City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has taken pains to show that she acts independently of her ally, Michael Bloomberg. But sometimes Bloomberg says things that convey the opposite impression.
• NYDN Poll: Ray Kelly For Mayor? (BY Celeste Katz, NY Daily News/ Daily Politics) “He could be a contender,” said pollster Doug Schoen, who surveyed 600 city voters for The News. “He clearly is the last, best hope of the Republican Party at this point.”
• Ray Kelly for mayor? Nonsense (by Greg David, Crain's New York) The Kelly obsession keeps returning because there is a need for an alternative to the obvious Democrat choices. But if Mr. Kelly ever says yes, it will be quickly apparent that the emperor has no clothes. And then what will the instigators of this idea do?
• Scott Stringer Goes After Stop-and-Frisk, Does Not Criticize Ray Kelly In The Process (By Sam Levin, Village Voice/Runnin Scared) At the same time, though, it seems that Stringer tries to avoid using confrontational language when referring to Kelly, and today, he repeatedly found opportunities to praise the police commissioner and the NYPD's efforts at reducing crime.

LAST WORD(S)
NOTE: I usually reserve "Last Word" for the punditocracy of the left, however, I couldn't resist this Michael Goodwin piece in Fox News…

• Don't be fooled by third party scenarios as 2012 presidential race heats up (By Michael Goodwin, New York Post, in Fox News) They’re political locusts, noisy and bothersome as they emerge like clockwork from their hidey holes. We’re talking “third partiers,” and they find presidential elections irresistible, so brace yourself, America. You are about to be swarmed by those much holier than thou.
• Independent Voter or Independent Poser? Take the Test (Howard Steven Friedman, Statistician/Economist for International Organization, Columbia University, Huffington Post) Americans take pride in being individualistic. We often look down on the herd mentality of others, yet rarely identify it in ourselves. As with many things in life, when it comes to being an independent voter, actions speak much louder than words. If your actions show that you are a party loyalist, then embrace it. If your actions show that you are an independent voter, then embrace it.

Campaign Finance Reform - Not a Good Picture

Campaign finance reform as conceived by the 2 major parties won't reform American politics. It's partisan through and through and -- how would you take the money out of politics when we live in a capitalist society?

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

The New York Times' Disingenuous Campaign Against Citizens United (By Wendy Kaminer, The Atlantic) Like Fox News, The New York Times has a First Amendment right to spread misinformation about important public issues, and it is exercising that right in its campaign against the Citizens United ruling. In news stories, as well as columns, it has repeatedly mischaracterized Citizens United, explicitly or implicitly blaming it for allowing unlimited "super PAC" contributions from mega-rich individuals. In fact, Citizens United enabled corporations and unions to use general treasury funds for independent political expenditures; it did not expand or address the longstanding, individual rights of the rich to support independent groups. And, as recent reports have made clear, individual donors, not corporations, are the primary funders of super PACs.

Kathleen Curry's Colorado Supreme Court Case on Campaign Finance Laws

COLORADO
Campaign-finance law argued before Colorado Supreme Court (By Sara Burnett, The Denver Post) Kathleen Curry filed a federal lawsuit: A state campaign-finance law that allows candidates who have a primary election to receive more money in donations than other candidates is unconstitutional and "totally skewed in favor of major-party candidates," an attorney told the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday.

New economic model?

So here goes post number 2 for The Randster.

Another little insight into the author's life: I am a Land Surveyor by profession. I measure and analyze and consult to help people resolve property boundary locations and disputes. I also spent just short of 10 years in the Army National Guard. I like to refer to Mt. Rushmore as 3 surveyors and a soldier!

Here at the Miller household we do our family and small business banking with 2 credit unions. And I have been wondering for a while now how wise retirement investing with mutual funds is. I'm no economist, that is why I gave you a little bit of my background. With the steady monthly deductions of worker's wages going towards a retirement plan that is invested largely in mutual fund aggregations of global companies, something seems unsustainable about that to me. The money keeps pouring into these products, but the companies are not demonstrating the kind of growth to justify the escalating share prices. Where does the cash go? I can't realistically say about that, but I can guess that it goes in a cash account somewhere and is listed as an asset for any number of companies. Consequently the share price goes up or the cash is spent. What I suspect (and as a non-economist, let me emphasize S U S P E C T) happens is that there is little protection from a grand pump and dump scheme. Cash goes in, share price goes up well beyond a book index of 1, so far in fact that it is not believable, share price goes down and excess cash is skimmed off. It appears to me that the inflow of investment capital would be hard to distinguish from a revenue stream from actual returns on operations.

Google has a motto that I had not heard until recently;

Don't be evil

So maybe it's the sub-amateur economist in me wondering, what if somebody came along with an economic model and said,
look, no need for a 700 page prospectus, you will always know where you stand with us. We buy X and Y for you and when your monthly contribution comes in, if we can't buy shares for a reasonable price, your money will have to wait in a low yield money market account. That's the way it works. We have other investment ideas naturally, but our favorite is

Don't be evil

Now to bring it back to independent politics. Companies that stick to this mantra of 'don't be evil' thrive. Companies that don't must spend gratuitously on campaigns and favorable legislation as a cost of doing business expense just to keep from going under. Now that is a wide sweeping generalization, but there are no shortage of examples that would support it.
So, is there a community based credit union style 'end run' on not just Wall Street excesses where they exist, but an end run on unsustainable economics as well?

I'll sign off tonight and leave you with this democracynow.org story on the Big 2 and what at least some corporate campaign contributions are used for: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/16/ubs

INDEPENDENT VOTER EXTRA: Revolution Breaks Out in Colorado!

Not since the Western Federation of Miners has there been such an outbreak of spirited independence as what we are witnessing now in Colorado. Today's backdrop is an increasingly anti-partisan and independent electorate, a stupidly partisan Congress and a beloved President who can't seem to win for losing (his Party loyalty straining credibility on all fronts....); today's battle cries are "Open Primaries!" "Non-Partisan Elections!" "An Independent on the Federal Elections Commission!"

I hope you enjoy this lively round-up.

Wishing all of you the best (independent of course) New Year ever!

--Nancy

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Give Independents a Voice (LETTER NY Times) from Jackie Salit and Harry Kresky
• Five steps to recovery for Dems (By: Steve Rosenthal, Politico) Now, take a few moments and listen to candidate Obama's stump speeches from 2008 to remind you what attracted millions of new voters, including Independents, to the Democratic Party.
• The end of the Democratic Party (Joseph Farrah, World Net Daily/Between the Lines)
• Democrats Do Not Need to Become More "Moderate" to Win in 2010 - Four Rules for Victory in November (Robert Creamer, Huffington Post)
• With new priorities, Obama and Democrats can recover in 2010 (By Dan Balz, Washington Post)
• The Obama Way (By ROSS DOUTHAT, NY Times) He’s a bipartisan bridge-builder — unless he’s a polarizing ideologue. He’s a crypto-Marxist radical — except when he’s a pawn of corporate interests. He’s a post-American utopian — or else he’s a willing tool of the national security state.
• Poll: More Americans prefer Democratic policies (CNN) "But independents will be the key to the midterms, and the numbers among independents spell bad news for both parties among that important group."

OPEN PRIMARIES

• GOP’s closed-primary plan may violate R.I, not US law (By Eric Tucker, Associated Press, Boston Globe)
• Mollis, GOP at odds over closed primaries (By JIM BARON, Woonsocket Call)
• Closed Rhode Island Republican primary could run afoul of state law (By Associated Press, Boston Herald)
• RI Republicans may try to close primary (By MICHELLE R. SMITH, Associated Press Writer, Nashua Telegraph) The party’s executive committee will consider the plan Jan. 5.
• RI Republican Party May Open Primary to GOPers Only (Chris Boardman, ABC 6 RI)
• LETTER: The Politics of Research--Are open primaries and less gerrymandering the route to evidence-based government? (Miller McCune)
• California Ballot from June 1998 Illustrates a Difficulty with the “Top-Two Open Primary” Measure (Ballot Access News)
• Where’s the Center? More on Polarization and the Parties (by Ed Kilgore, Progressive Fix) Though I favor open (or at least more open) primaries as a general proposition, the idea that this would have an immediate impact on polarization isn’t terribly compelling. It’s a subject that is complicated by definitions: some states with “closed” primaries allow very late changes in party registration, even on Election Day, which certainly gives independents every opportunity to participate.... And remember, too, that registered “independents” are not always “centrists.” [Amen, brother! -NH] NOTE: ProgressiveFix.com is the new face of the Progressive Policy Institute, the main purveyor of policy innovations to Bill Clinton’s New Democrats... 
• Richard Winger: Open primary won't live up to hype (The Record Searchlight/Redding.com)
• California Author of “Top-Two Open Primary” Sets Up Organization to Campaign for His Measure (Ballot Access News)

COLORADO

• Unaffiliated candidate's lengthy waiting period "not fair" (By Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)
• Curry shifts from Dems, moves to unaffiliated--Plans to focus on constituents, not party politics (Gunnison Country Times Staff Writer)
• Colorado Rep. Kathleen Curry changes from Democrat to unaffiliated (By Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post) Also on HUFFINGTON POST
• Legislator: 'I don't fit' with Dems--Pressure over votes led to her switch in affiliation (By CHARLES ASHBY/The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel)
• An independent mind (By The Daily Sentinel)
• State Rep. Kathleen Curry switches party affiliation (By KATIE REDDING, Colorado Independent)
• Curry’s Affiliation Switch Gets GOP’s Attention In Garfield County (By Don Knox, STATE BILL COLORADO)
• Pre-Session Surprise: Curry’s Party Switch Costs Her Leadership Positions (STATE BILL COLORADO)
• Curry is an independent thinker-District 61 representative switches from Democrat to unaffiliated, saying ‘I just don't fit into either party' (John Colson, Post Independent, Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado)
• Colorado House #2 leader quits Democratic party (Colorado Statehouse Examiner, Hank Lacey)
• La Plata Clerk Wants Federal-Court Ballot Lawsuit Thrown Out (Law Week Colorado)
• Durango, Colorado Newspaper Story on Lawsuit Over Independent Candidate Ballot Restriction (Ballot Access News)
• Clerk wants ballot lawsuit thrown out--County Commissioner Joelle Riddle: Rule unfair to unaffiliated candidates (by Dale Rodebaugh, Durango Herald Staff Writer)

NON-PARTISAN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

• NYS Needs Nonpartisan Municipal Elections--Bloomberg Speechwriter in Exclusive Empire Page Interview (by PoliticalNewsToday.com)
• Interview with author Francis S. Barry (The Empire Page) I wrote the book in hopes that it would lead people to step back and re-consider election reforms generally, and one reform in particular: nonpartisan elections. 
• Currie eyes nonpartisan election bill (By: ADAM NORTHAM, DAILY LEADER, Brookhaven MS)

KENTUCKY

• Deadline for voters to switch parties is this week (By MELINDA CHARLES, Maysville Ledger Independent) Voters who are already registered in Kentucky have until Dec. 31 to change their political affiliation, according to a release from office of Secretary of State Trey Grayson. The deadline also affects candidates who wish to switch political party affiliation and run in their new party's primary election, or those seeking ballot access as an independent, the release said.
• Independent Kentucky Chairman Michael P.W. Lewis was a special guest on "My View Matters" Radio show on December 17th. If you happened to miss it, you can listen to it on Ed Springston's Blog.

REDISTRICTING

• Independent Commissions: Why don't all states use a non-partisan panel to decide on re-districting. (The Live Fix, Chris Cillizza, Washington Post)

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

• Ethics watchdogs give Obama high marks (UPI.com)
• CREW Unveils Its List of Top Ten Ethics Scandals of 2009 (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) - press release in Earth Times.org) Violations of federal campaign finance law are going unpunished as a result of a gridlocked and toothless Federal Election Commission
• Top 10 ethics scandals of 2009 (Part I) (Seattle Business Ethics Examiner, Jean-Pierre Ruiz)  What, the FEC Is Supposed to Enforce (Not Gut) Campaign Finance Laws?

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

• Decade Brought Change To Campaign Finance (by PETER OVERBY, NPR) Former Federal Election Commission Chairman Bradley Smith says that's it for public funding. "Participating in the public financing system is now considered the mark of an unserious candidate," he says.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS, OBAMA AND HEALTH CARE

• Like Mushrooms, Health Care 'Reform' Flourishes in the Dark - NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg criticizes the bill's lack of transparency. (By JOHN FUND, Wall Street Journal)
• In federal politics, a sharp move leftward (By: GARY WECKSELBLATT, Bucks County Courier Times)
• December 22, 2009 - U.S. Voters Oppose Health Care Plan By Wide Margin, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Voters Say 3-1, Plan Should Not Pay For Abortions (Quinnipiac) Looking at the health care plan, independent voters "mostly disapprove" 58 - 30 percent, as do Republicans 83 - 10 percent. Democrats "mostly approve" 64 - 22 percent. 
• Obama gets lowest approval rating since taking office (NY Post)
• Daily Presidential Tracking Poll (Rasmussen Reports) Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Democrats approve while 88% of Republicans and 62% of unaffiliated voters disapprove.

STATE RACES

• Lincoln Chafee Enters Rhode Island Gov's Race (CBS News/Political Hotsheet) as an independent 
• Senate hopefuls pull no punches in TV clash (By Matt Viser and Eric Moskowitz, Boston Globe) Kennedy, who is an active Libertarian running as an independent, demonstrated last night why Brown has sought to minimize him and Coakley has wanted him involved in the debates: He used nearly every speaking opportunity to challenge Brown from the right, saying the state senator has not done enough to cut spending, limit taxes, and make his voting record accessible.
• Gov. Deval Patrick reflects on his ‘mistake’--Says he ‘underutilized’ grassroots network once in office (By Hillary Chabot, Boston Herald)
• Independent Jana Kemp says she has signatures to make the 2010 gubernatorial ballot (By Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman)

Campaign Finance: Reform or Revolution?

submitted by Linda Curtis
Independent Texans
http://IndyTexans.org
PO Box 14294
Austin, TX 78761
512-535-0989

A frustrated Member of Congress once likened the attempts over the last thirty years to reform campaign financing to squeezing a balloon. You restrict the flow of money here, and it just swells up somewhere else. There is always some inventive loophole that can be exploited by wealthy special interests: cut off the flow of soft money (as the McCain-Feingold bill did in 2002), and up pop the 527 organizations (like the infamous "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth"). Barack Obama's decision to opt out of the public campaign finance system has drawn a chorus of criticism from Republicans and some Democrats as well. They point to the shocking fact that he is the first presidential candidate ever to forego general election funding since the system was set up in the post-Watergate era.

Many independents, including the authors of this editorial, believe that the Obama team's internet savvy has done more to enhance the influence of small donors than 30 years of failed campaign finance reforms. No other candidate has harnessed the power of grassroots donors to the degree Obama has: over 1.5 million Americans have contributed to his campaign, and 47 percent of the $263 million raised has come in amounts of $200 or less.

Moreover, Obama is mobilizing hundreds of thousands of volunteers, many who are new to politics, many of them very young. One cannot overstate the importance to the health of our democracy of this massive increase in participation by ordinary citizens. Obama's "post-partisan" rhetoric has been much discussed, but less attention has been given to his unprecedented ability to reach out to voters directly, without the mediation of the party machine – or the "special interests" that smother inclusive dialogue on the important issues facing our nation. Unlike his Republican rival, John McCain, Obama has refused contributions from political action committees and currently-registered lobbyists.

America's campaign finance laws have failed on their promise to deliver a level playing field. That's because in a market economy like ours, it is simply not possible to prevent moneyed interests from exercising undue influence. Successive efforts to close the loopholes in the original reforms have merely complicated compliance, effectively tipping the balance against grassroots candidates and insurgent campaigns that cannot afford high-priced lawyers and have no political influence with the Federal Election Commission. Sen. McCain's well-intentioned efforts to reform our campaign finance system have tried, unsuccessfully, to limit the abuses of the powerful. Meanwhile, Sen. Obama has accomplished something truly revolutionary: he has increased the power of the abused.


Jim Mangia, a longtime independent leader, based in Los Angeles, is the former secretary of the Reform Party USA and co-founder of IndependentMovement.org. Linda Curtis, founder of Independent Texans, helped pass a citizens petition initiated city charter amendment in Austin, Texas called "Austinites for A Little Less Corruption" -- a system she believes is a failed reform.

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

REFORM: Initiative and Referendum, Term Limits, Campaign Finance, Redistricting

• TX: Group focuses on city charter review (Houston Chronicle) "We're trying to get the councilmen and the mayor to respond to the people," Pruitt said.
• MI: Reform package may aid Dems - State party wants petition on ballot to overhaul Legislature; GOP say it's power play. (Detroit News)
• NY: Gov. Paterson: The first 100 days (Poughkeepsie Journal) Short on political reform

Talk/Talk: A Brand New Brand

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Below are excerpts from this week's Talk Talk, A Brand New Brand. Every Sunday CUIP's president Jacqueline Salit and strategist and philosopher Fred Newman watch the political talk shows and discuss them. Here are excerpts from their dialogue on Sunday, June 22, 2008 after watching "The Chris Matthews Show" and "This Week with George Stephanopoulos".

Newman: Everyone said that Bloomberg would be discredited because he wouldn't participate in the New York City campaign finance program. That didn't happen. Americans are quite used to inequality of money. We've been living with that inequality for a very long time, so if you have a candidate who has something going for her or him, people quickly forget about who's paying for the campaign. I don't think that that critique can be effectively used against Obama by McCain, because the American people will say: What's your point? You're saying he's got more money than you? That's OK with me. He seems to be doing something. If he's spending his money, that's helping the economy. And he has a right to spend more money because he's got more money. He's raised more money. I don't think the American people feel that strongly about public financing of campaigns. I think Americans do care about the issues you mention about fairness. But Americans don't care about equalizing the amount of money that people have. If they did, we'd have a very different kind of economy, wouldn't we?

Read Talk Talk in its entirety here.

California: Elaborate deal for term limits, campaign finance reform and redistricting

Primary provides platform for change; California politicians hope to use the February 2008 primary as a stage for changing term limits, redistricting and fundraising laws. By BRIAN JOSEPH (The Orange County Register) State officials say they moved the presidential primary to make California a bigger player in national politics, but that wasn't their only reason.
Moving the primary to February is the centerpiece of an elaborate deal to adjust term limits, reform campaign fundraising and change the way political districts are drawn.
Both parties and the governor have something they want and the deal could collapse if any of them don't get their way. In state politics, the stakes couldn't be higher....

Minnesota: Campaign finance reform? Not likely

Minnesota Campaign Finance Reports / Interest groups outspent '06 campaignsGovernor's race drew $7 million in unsolicited aid, BY BRIAN BAKST, Associated Press (Pioneer Press) --From buying buttons to lawn signs to big-time TV commercials, outside interest groups proved to be a greater financial force in Minnesota state politics than ever before. ...Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Peter Hutchinson, who had no major independent expenditures for or against him, said he doubts there will be substantial changes to the campaign finance system anytime soon. Even if there is, he questions whether it will make much of a difference. "Money is like water: It'll find a way," he said....