[EL] Slate column on soft money/more news

Tue Oct 25 12:58:08 PDT 2011

I believe this sentence is incorrect on two counts:

The SuperPAC’s lawyers argue that there’s no danger of corrupting these
other candidates, because its spending to help them get elected will be
independent of those candidates.

1) I am betting Rick meant to write "Leadership PAC," not SuperPAC.

2) And, last I heard, there is only one lawyer (not "lawyers") at DB Capitol
Strategies responsible for this request.

Steve Hoersting

On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 3:03 PM, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:

>   “Super-Soft Money: How Justice Kennedy paved the way for ‘SuperPACS’ and
> the return of soft money’ <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=24611>
> Posted on October 25, 2011 12:02 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=24611>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> I have written this Jurisprudence essay <http://slate.me/sun4y6> for
> Slate. It begins:
>
> Soft money is coming back to national politics, and in a big way. And we
> can blame it all on a single sentence in Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion
> in 2010’s controversial *Citizens United*<http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-205.pdf>
> * *decision—a sentence that was unnecessary to resolve the case.
>
>   In this election cycle, “superPACs<http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/2011/1007/Election-101-Five-basics-about-super-PACs-and-2012-campaign-money/What-is-a-super-PAC-and-how-is-it-different-from-an-ordinary-PAC>”
> will likely replace<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/us/politics/28donate.html?ref=politics>political parties as a
> conduit<http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/super-pacs-propublicas-guide-to-the-new-world-of-campaign-finance>for large, often secret contributions, allowing an end run around the $2,400
> individual contribution limit and the bar on corporate and labor
> contributions to federal candidates.
>
> Another snippet:
>
> Now comes <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=24567> the most audacious<http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_43/Super-PACs-Multiply-Head-to-Hill-209545-1.html?pos=olobh>argument in this series so far. If all PACs are Super-PACs, then the rules
> for these PACs should also apply to “leadership PACs.” Leadership PACs are
> political committees that sitting members of Congress (and others) set up to
> allow them to make contributions to other candidates and spend money to
> support their election. It is a way for a member of Congress to build
> influence.
>
>    Sen. Mike Lee’s Leadership PAC, the Constitutional Conservatives Fund
> PAC, has just asked <http://saos.nictusa.com/aodocs/1188172.pdf> the
> Federal Election Commission for permission to collect unlimited
> contributions from corporations, labor unions, and wealthy individuals for
> independent spending to elect other candidates. The SuperPAC’s lawyers argue
> that there’s no danger of corrupting these other candidates, because its
> spending to help them get elected will be independent of those candidates.
>
> Even if we suspend disbelief and agree on this point, the request ignores
> the greater danger: that *the leader* of the leadership PAC will become,
> or appear, corrupt. Corporations or labor unions (acting through other
> organizations to shield their identity from public view) could give
> unlimited sums to an elected official’s leadership PAC, which could then be
> used for the official to yield influence with others.
>
>   There’s nothing to stop someone like Senate Minority Leader Mitch
> McConnell from effectively becoming the fundraising arm of the Republican
> Party, funneling all the money through his leadership PAC. The
> McCain-Feingold law barred political parties from collecting such unlimited
> “soft money” contributions, and the Supreme Court in 2003 upheld<http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-1674.ZS.html>that limit on the grounds that such unlimited fundraising by politicians
> could corrupt politicians or create the appearance of corruption.
>
>   [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D24611&title=%E2%80%9CSuper-Soft%20Money%3A%20How%20Justice%20Kennedy%20paved%20the%20way%20for%20%E2%80%98SuperPACS%E2%80%99%20and%20the%20return%20of%20soft%20money%E2%80%99&description=>
>   Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | Comments
> Off
>   “State voter ID measure expected to see some changes in Senate”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=24608>
> Posted on October 25, 2011 7:53 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=24608>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> News <http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11295/1184048-454-0.stm> from Pa.
>  [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D24608&title=%E2%80%9CState%20voter%20ID%20measure%20expected%20to%20see%20some%20changes%20in%20Senate%E2%80%9D&description=>
>   Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, voter
> id <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off
>  Give the People What They Want <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=24606>
> Posted on October 25, 2011 7:52 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=24606>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Dean Logan will try<http://www.governing.com/blogs/view/LAs-Elections-Overhaul-Could-Be-a-Model.html>in L.A. (h/t The
> Kinks <http://www.amazon.com/Give-People-What-They-Want/dp/B00000IM7P>)
>  [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D24606&title=Give%20the%20People%20What%20They%20Want&description=>
>   Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> | Comments
> Off
> --
> Rick Hasen
> Professor of Law and Political Science
> UC Irvine School of Law
> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
> Irvine, CA 92697-8000
> 949.824.3072 - office
> 949.824.0495 - fax
> rhasen at law.uci.edu
> http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
> http://electionlawblog.org
>
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-- 
Stephen M. Hoersting
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