[EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/20/12

[Even, Jeff (ATG)]

I second the motion.  

 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Bill Maurer
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2012 5:49 PM
To: law-election at UCI.edu; Rick Hasen
Subject: Re: [EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/20/12

 

Thank you, Rick, for your efforts running the ELB and this listserv throughout the year.  It is an invaluable resource and an excellent source of debate and insight.  All the best in the new year.

 

Bill Maurer

 

Sent from Windows Mail

 

From: Rick Hasen
Sent: ‎December‎ ‎20‎, ‎2012 ‎4‎:‎48‎ ‎PM
To: law-election at UCI.edu
Subject: [EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/20/12

 


Light Blogging through the Holidays <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45619>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 4:47 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45619>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Blogging will be intermittent over the next two weeks. Happy holidays and a happy new year to all my ELB readers!

Here’s to a happy, healthy and safe 2013.

  <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45619&title=Light%20Blogging%20through%20the%20Holidays&description=> 

Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>  | Comments Off 


Harvard Law Review Publishes My “Fixing Washington” Piece, Lessig’s Reply <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45616>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 4:45 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45616>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

From the new issue <http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/126/december12/index.php>  of the Harvard Law Review <http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/126/december12/index.php> :


Fixing Washington <http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/126/december12/Book_Review_9410.php> 


Book Review by Richard L. Hasen ::

REPUBLIC, LOST: HOW MONEY CORRUPTS POLITICS — AND A PLAN TO STOP IT. By Lawrence Lessig. New York, N.Y., and Boston, Mass.: Twelve Press. 2011. Pp. xiii, 383. $26.99.

CAPITOL PUNISHMENT: THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT WASHINGTON CORRUPTION FROM AMERICA’S MOST NOTORIOUS LOBBYIST. By Jack Abramoff. Washington, D.C.: WND Books. 2011. Pp. iii, 303. $25.95.

It is a tired cliché that Washington is “broken” and needs fixing. A 2011 Gallup poll found that sixty-four percent of voters had low or very low trust in members of Congress, the lowest percentage ever recorded by Gallup for a profession and below trust ratings for lobbyists, telemarketers, and car salespeople. The recent economic downturn has not only coincided with record-low approval ratings for Congress and with general lack of trust in government but also produced two protest movements: the Tea Party on the right and the Occupy movement on the left. Despite the fact that these movements come from the fringes of the Republican and Democratic parties, they share some common critiques of federal lawmaking: they condemn the role of lobbyists in Washington and the “crony capitalists” who hire them. From President Obama to Senator Rand Paul and former Governor Sarah Palin, there is a widespread sentiment that money in Washington skews political outcomes and that lobbyists are the fixers who cut the deals that help insiders benefit themselves at the expense of the public interest.

In their new and very different books, Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig from the left and disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff from the right come to similar conclusions about what is wrong with Washington. Lessig’s book is a populist call to action for the people to “take back Washington” through campaign finance reform. Abramoff’s book is an autobiography that is part apology and part justification for a promising career that veered badly off track.

Despite the different starting points, the books end in much the same place. Lessig and Abramoff both want to take lobbyists out of the fundraising business, breaking the connection between money and lobbyists’ legitimate information-providing function. They seek to close the revolving door between Congress and lobbying shops because of the inherent conflict that arises when officeholders or staffers start thinking about post-government lobbying jobs. They part company on what else is needed, however: Lessig wants publicly financed campaign finance vouchers to lessen further the power of special interests, while Abramoff wants to shrink the size of government to give lobbyists a smaller target.

Together, Lessig and Abramoff offer a mostly convincing critique of how lobbying skews public policy and can harm the United States. The books demonstrate that lobbying can thwart the public interest, especially when players with much at stake use lobbyists to block or alter legislation on issues that lack salience with the general public. Although it is tempting to focus on Abramoff’s admittedly illegal behavior, both books illustrate that much of the problem with the relationship among money, politics, and lobbying stems from what is legal, not illegal. Indeed, although both Abramoff and Lessig present the problem as one of “corruption,” the real concern should be less with exchanges of dollars for political favors and more with the decline in national economic welfare that occurs thanks to lobbyist-facilitated rent-seeking. Lessig also appears concerned with political inequality, although he distances himself from egalitarian arguments for reform. Defining the problem as one other than quid pro quo corruption, however, threatens the constitutionality of reforms in a post–Citizens United world.

Nonetheless, while the critiques of the Washington status quo are well made, both books offer incomplete reform agendas and unconvincing paths to enacting reform. Much of what is wrong with Washington has nothing to do with money in politics. Instead, partisan gridlock and the divergence of legislative action from the apparent public interest emerge from the highly partisan and ideological nature of Congress and the presidency; polarized views on the nature of the public interest; the breakdown of civility and an era of “gotcha” politics; and structural impediments to enacting legislation, such as the Senate filibuster and changes in the House committee structure.

The current state of toxic politics and institutions inadequate to constrain such politics arose not from an outsized influence of money on politics but from a variety of sources, including the party realignment in the South following the civil rights movement and the resurgence of partisan media (and now social media). Even if the authors’ complete reform agendas were enacted and the amount of rent-seeking legislation procured by lobbying significantly curbed, it is far from clear that Washington would be “fixed.” Lessig, for example, claims that money has prevented both the left and the right from getting their agendas passed. It is hard to see that money has been the primary stumbling block to enacting competing agendas simultaneously. When it comes to high-salience, big legislative questions such as immigration reform, the primary barriers to reform are partisanship, deadlock, and vetogates, not the role of money. In the rare circumstance when major legislative reform does pass, as in the case of health care reform, the passage of legislation further fuels partisan recriminations.

Nor is it clear that the kinds of fundamental campaign finance reforms that Lessig advocates stand any realistic chance of being enacted under current political conditions. Lessig acknowledges the hard road ahead, but even so he seems overly optimistic. For example, he suggests there is a ten percent chance that a call for a constitutional convention to amend the Constitution to allow new campaign finance and lobbying reform could succeed. But the same partisan, sclerotic politics that would make reform of money in politics only a partial solution to a broken Washington would also make the chances of calling a constitutional convention to enact a reform agenda much slimmer than one in ten. Fixing Washington’s money problems may have to await widespread scandal, and fixing its broader problems likely will have to await a societal shift that alleviates the partisanship currently gripping national politics.

126 Harv. L. Rev. 550 (2012) | DOWNLOAD PDF <http://www.harvardlawreview.org/media/pdf/vol126_hasen.pdf>  | WESTLAW <http://www.westlaw.com/find/default.wl?cite=126hvlr550FindType=F&ForceAction=Y&SV=Full&RS=WWMH1.0&VR=2.0%22%20target=%22_BLANK> 

RESPONSE TO THIS ARTICLE

A Reply to Professor Hasen <http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/126/december12/forum_983.php> 
By Lawrence Lessig

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45616&title=Harvard%20Law%20Review%20Publishes%20My%20%E2%80%9CFixing%20Washington%E2%80%9D%20Piece%2c%20Lessig%E2%80%99s%20Reply&description=> 

Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> , chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12> , legislation and legislatures <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27> , lobbying <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>  | Comments Off 


“Mass. lawmaker, member of election committee, pleads guilty to voter fraud” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45613>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 4:37 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45613>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Boston Globe: <http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/12/20/mass-lawmaker-member-election-committee-pleads-guilty-voter-fraud/g9cBs3OJdeGsaSa9EmUiRI/story.html> “A Democratic state representative from Everett, who served on the Legislature’s election law committee, pleaded guilty to federal charges today that he cast fraudulent absentee ballots to help get himself elected.”

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45613&title=%E2%80%9CMass.%20lawmaker%2c%20member%20of%20election%20committee%2c%20pleads%20guilty%20to%20voter%20fraud%E2%80%9D&description=> 

Posted in absentee ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53> , chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>  | Comments Off 


A Cry for Help at the FEC? <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45610>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 4:34 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45610>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

A knowledgeable reader points me to this item <http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2012/mtgdoc_1289.pdf>  on today’s FEC meeting agenda asking for public comment on certain aspects of the FEC’s enforcement process. (The request for public comment was approved 4-2.)  The reader writes: “I see it as a cry for help from the General Counsel’s Office, which is asking for public comment on two basic issues: (1) can the FEC consider public information other than what’s specifically in a complaint and (2) can the FEC initiate enforcement actions based on publicly available information even if no one files a complaint? Both are long-standing practices that the Republican commissioners, especially Don McGahn, have been trying to stamp out.”

Do others see it this way too?  I’m not close enough to the process to know.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>  | Comments Off 


“House Rs Resurrect Congressional-Based Electoral College Plan” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45607>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 4:27 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45607>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Politics PA <http://www.politicspa.com/house-rs-resurrect-congressional-based-electoral-college-plan/44960/> reports.

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45607&title=%E2%80%9CHouse%20Rs%20Resurrect%20Congressional-Based%20Electoral%20College%20Plan%E2%80%9D&description=> 

Posted in electoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>  | Comments Off 


Remembering Obama the Election Reformer <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45604>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 4:14 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45604>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

FairVote reminisces <http://www.fairvote.org/when-barack-obama-was-a-leader-in-seeking-fair-voting-systems/#.UNOpr7bOalg> .

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>  | Comments Off 


Then and Now <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45602>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 4:13 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45602>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

A reader writes:

	How times change:

	FLASHBACK <http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2011/may/06/mike-bennett/think-we-have-it-tough-africa-people-walk-300-mile/> :
	In 2011, then-State Senator Mike Bennett was a major supporter of HB1355, Florida’s controversial election law which (among other things) cut back on early voting. Bennett famously said during the debates over HB1355 that he wanted to make voting harder, not easier.

	NOW <http://www.bradenton.com/2012/12/20/4323470/new-manatee-elections-chief-mike.html> :
	Only a year later, Bennett has left the legislature to become Manatee County’s elected Supervisor of Election. Now, he wants to expand early voting back to 14 days, and increase the legally permissible locations at which the county may offer early voting.

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45602&title=Then%20and%20Now&description=> 

Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> , The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>  | Comments Off 


“Politico’s Dave Levinthal joins Center for Public Integrity” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45600>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 4:11 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45600>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Great news for CPI, <http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/12/20/11957/politicos-dave-levinthal-joins-center-public-integrity>  which has been doing great work on campaign disclosure issues.

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45600&title=%E2%80%9CPolitico%E2%80%99s%20Dave%20Levinthal%20joins%20Center%20for%20Public%20Integrity%E2%80%9D&description=> 

Posted in election law biz <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>  | Comments Off 


“The Myth of State Autonomy: Federalism, Political Parties, and the National Colonization of State Politics” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45597>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 4:08 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45597>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Jim Gardner has posted this draft <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2191150>  on SSRN.  Here is the abstract:

	American federalism contemplates that states will retain a significant degree of autonomy so that state power can serve as a meaningful counterweight to national power. It is often said that states exercise this function through extraconstitutional processes centered on the political party system. That is, states influence the content of national law and protect themselves from undesirable exercises of national power by using the mechanisms of internal party processes. If this process is to work properly, however, states must retain considerable political autonomy, for the possibility of state objection to exercises of national power is merely theoretical if state political processes are not sufficiently independent of their national counterparts to enable the state to adopt and assert ends or interests different from those asserted by the national government.

	The evidence, however, suggests strongly that the growth of national political parties during and since the early nineteenth century created a two-way street. Parties not only offered states a way to influence national politics, but also created a reverse pathway by which national politics could influence, and in many cases overawe, any independent state-level politics. As a result, the same extraconstitutional pathways that provided states a means to protect themselves from national domination simultaneously eroded the political autonomy necessary for states to maintain the kind of independent wills contemplated by the federal arrangement. This does not mean that states lack entirely the capacity to stand up to the federal government, but it does mean that their ability to do so is limited, not necessarily for lack of power but for lack of autonomous control over their political agendas and positions. This in turn suggests a much chastened conception of what it might mean for a subnational government to have the ability to “check” national power.

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45597&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Myth%20of%20State%20Autonomy:%20Federalism%2c%20Political%20Parties%2c%20and%20the%20National%20Colonization%20of%20State%20Politics%E2%80%9D&description=> 

Posted in political parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>  | Comments Off 


Pew Data Dispatch about Provisional Ballots in Maricopa County, AZ <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45595>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 4:06 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45595>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Here <http://www.pewstates.org/research/analysis/notable-county-maricopa-county-arizonapart-i-85899437864> .

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45595&title=Pew%20Data%20Dispatch%20about%20Provisional%20Ballots%20in%20Maricopa%20County%2c%20AZ&description=> 

Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> , provisional ballots <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=67> , The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>  | Comments Off 


Controversial George Will Column on Nonvoting <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45592>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 4:04 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45592>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

George Will: <http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-federal-voting-drive-makes-a-mountain-out-of-a-molehill/2012/12/19/461e17c4-494c-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_story.html> 

	The poet Carl Sandburg supposedly was asked by a young playwright to attend a rehearsal. Sandburg did but fell asleep. The playwright exclaimed, “How could you sleep when you knew I wanted your opinion?” Sandburg replied, “Sleep isan opinion.”

	So is nonvoting. Remember this as the Obama administration mounts a drive to federalize voter registration <http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-05-30/national/35457450_1_voter-id-requirements-voter-laws-voter-registration-efforts> , a step toward making voting mandatory.

Andrew Cohen <http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/12/george-will-gets-almost-everything-wrong-about-voting-rights/266504/> :

	There are so many things wrong with George Will’s latest column on voting that it’s hard to know where to begin. Actually, that’s not right. It’s easy to know where to begin. The very title of the piece, “Mountain out of a molehill <http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-federal-voting-drive-makes-a-mountain-out-of-a-molehill/2012/12/19/461e17c4-494c-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_story.html> ,” is offensive to every American whose right to vote was jeopardized this past election cycle by Republican voter-suppression efforts <http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/why-mitt-romney-lost-a-simple-overriding-theory/264491/> .

	Will’s piece is 14 paragraphs long and the only one that survives close scrutiny is the first, because it consists mostly of a quote from Carl Sandburg. The other 13 paragraphs render wholly unrecognizable both the voting-rights battles of 2012 and the national debate over how those battles ought to be resolved <http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/2012_summary_of_voting_law_changes/> . Let’s take it one graph at a time.

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> , The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>  | Comments Off 


“FEC & DOJ Complaints Filed Against ‘Straw Companies’ that Funneled $12 million to FreedomWorks Super PAC” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45589>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 4:00 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45589>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

See this press release <http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1993:december-20-2012-fec-a-doj-complaints-filed-against-straw-companies-that-funneled-12-million-to-freedomworks-super-pac-&catid=63:legal-center-press-releases&Itemid=61> .

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45589&title=%E2%80%9CFEC%20%26%20DOJ%20Complaints%20Filed%20Against%20%E2%80%98Straw%20Companies%E2%80%99%20that%20Funneled%20%2412%20million%20to%20FreedomWorks%20Super%20PAC%E2%80%9D&description=> 

Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> , tax law and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>  | Comments Off 


“A voter’s-eye view of Election Day 2012; Despite well-publicized problems, overall voters satisfied with process” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45587>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 3:59 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45587>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Charles Stewart leads off this week’s Electionline Weekly. <http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly> 

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45587&title=%E2%80%9CA%20voter%E2%80%99s-eye%20view%20of%20Election%20Day%202012%3b%20Despite%20well-publicized%20problems%2c%20overall%20voters%20satisfied%20with%20process%E2%80%9D&description=> 

Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>  | Comments Off 


“Fundraising starts up soon after election, filings show” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45584>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 3:56 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45584>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

WaPo reports. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fundraising-starts-up-soon-after-election-filings-show/2012/12/19/853e16d0-4a0e-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_story.html> 

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>  | Comments Off 


Interesting Perspectives on Politics Issue <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45580>  


Posted on December 20, 2012 3:50 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45580>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Paul Gronke writes: “The most recent issue of Perspectives on Politics <http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=PPS>  is a theme issue about the role of elections and other democratic institutions in non-democratic nations (authoritarian and autocratic regimes). The issue has very rich content, including original research articles, “controversy” pieces, and a large number of book reviews broadly on the topic of elections, from an American, comparative, and normative perspective. The website link is gated but the table of contents is open access, and anyone at an academic institution should be able to access the content.”

APSA Journals

December Issue of <http://APSA.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDIy/index.html> Perspectives on Politics <http://APSA.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDIy/index.html> 

From the Editor
Authoritarianism, Elections, Democracy? <http://APSA.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDIz/index.html> - Jeffrey C. IsaacResearch Articles
Beyond Patronage: Violent Struggle, Ruling Party Cohesion, and Authoritarian Durability <http://APSA.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDI0/index.html>  – Steven R. Levitsky & Lucan A. Way
Improbable but Potentially Pivotal Oppositions: Privatization, Capitalists, and Political Contestation in the Post-Soviet Autocracies <http://APSA.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDI1/index.html>  – Barbara Junisbai
The Arab Spring: Why the Surprising Similarities with the Revolutionary Wave of 1848? <http://APSA.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDI2/index.html>  – Kurt Weyland
When Multi-Method Research Subverts Methological Pluralism- or, Why We Still Need Single-Method Research <http://APSA.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDI3/index.html>  – Amel Ahmed & Rudra Sil 

Review Essay
From Representative Democracy to Participatory Competitive Authoritarianism: Hugo Chavez and Venezuelan Politics <http://APSA.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDI4/index.html>  – Scott Mainwaring
Whither Russia? Autocracy Is Here for Now, but Is It Here to Stay? <http://APSA.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDI5/index.html>  – Kathryn Stoner

Review Symposium
Neoliberalism, Race, and the American Welfare State <http://APSA.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDMw/index.html>  – Russell L. Hanson, Lawrence M. Mead, Rose Ernst, Peter J. Boettke, Mary Fainsod Katzenstein

Critical Dialogue
Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement <http://APSA.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDMx/index.html> 
Sharon Erickson Nepstad, Wendy Pearlman, Matthew N. Beckmann, Matthew N. Green

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Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>  | Comments Off 


The NRA and Lobbying/Campaign Finance Reform <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45576>  


Posted on December 19, 2012 8:49 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45576>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Former Bush ethics czar Richard Painter pens an interesting NYT oped <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/opinion/the-nra-protection-racket.html?hp> :

	Republican politicians must free themselves from the N.R.A. protection racket and others like it. For starters, the party establishment should refuse to endorse anyone who runs in a primary with N.R.A. money against a sitting Republican. If the establishment refuses to support Republicans using other Republicans for target practice, the N.R.A. will take its shooting game somewhere else.

	Reasonable gun control legislation will then be able to pass Congress and the state legislatures. Next, Republicans should embrace legislation like the proposed American Anti-Corruption Act <http://anticorruptionact.org/> , which would rid both parties of their dependence on big money from groups like the N.R.A. The Republican Party will once again be proud to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. And voters will go back to feeling that their children are safe, their democracy works, and they will once again consider voting Republican.

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45576&title=The%20NRA%20and%20Lobbying/Campaign%20Finance%20Reform&description=> 

Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> , legislation and legislatures <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27> , lobbying <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>  | Comments Off 


“Death threats made against the Colorado Secretary of State” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45573>  


Posted on December 19, 2012 8:27 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45573>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Disgusting. <http://www.9news.com/shows/evenings/305998/510/Threats-made-against-the-secretary-of-state> 

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45573&title=%E2%80%9CDeath%20threats%20made%20against%20the%20Colorado%20Secretary%20of%20State%E2%80%9D&description=> 

Posted in chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12> , The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>  | Comments Off 


“THE BATTLE OVER ELECTION REFORM IN THE SWING STATE OF FLORIDA” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45570>  


Posted on December 19, 2012 8:23 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45570>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Susan MacManus has written this article <http://t.co/hIKOSBw5>  for the New England Journal of Political Science.

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45570&title=%E2%80%9CTHE%20BATTLE%20OVER%20ELECTION%20REFORM%20IN%20THE%20SWING%20STATE%20OF%20FLORIDA%E2%80%9D&description=> 

Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> , The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>  | Comments Off 


“Ethics restrictions so strict they undermine democracy” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45567>  


Posted on December 19, 2012 8:10 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45567>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Kathleen Clark blogs <http://www.legalethicsforum.com/blog/2012/12/ethics-restrictions-so-strict-they-undermine-democracy.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+LegalEthicsForum+%28Legal+Ethics+Forum%29&utm_content=Google+Reader>  on Congress’ passage of <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2012/12/19/congress-sends-hatch-act-reform-bill-to-president/?print=1>  the Hatch Act Modernization Act <http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s2170/text> ,

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45567&title=%E2%80%9CEthics%20restrictions%20so%20strict%20they%20undermine%20democracy%E2%80%9D&description=> 

Posted in conflict of interest laws <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20> , ethics investigations <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=42>  | Comments Off 


“As Charlie Crist testifies before Congress on Florida’s voting problems, Gov. Rick Scott voices support for changes” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45564>  


Posted on December 19, 2012 3:42 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45564>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

The Tampa Bay Times reports. <http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/as-charlie-crist-testifies-before-congress-on-floridas-voting-problems-gov/1266861> 

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45564&title=%E2%80%9CAs%20Charlie%20Crist%20testifies%20before%20Congress%20on%20Florida%E2%80%99s%20voting%20problems%2c%20Gov.%20Rick%20Scott%20voices%20support%20for%20changes%E2%80%9D&description=> 

Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> , The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>  | Comments Off 


“Former Governor Urges Congress to Consider New National Voting Standards” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45561>  


Posted on December 19, 2012 3:32 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45561>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

BLT reports. <http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2012/12/former-governor-urges-congress-to-consider-new-national-voting-standards.html> 

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45561&title=%E2%80%9CFormer%20Governor%20Urges%20Congress%20to%20Consider%20New%20National%20Voting%20Standards%E2%80%9D&description=> 

Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18> , The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>  | Comments Off 


“Outside Money Takes the Inside Track” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45559>  


Posted on December 19, 2012 3:31 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45559>  by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>  

Public Citizen <http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=5833> : “In First Full Post-Citizens United Cycle, Unrestricted Groups Moved Closer to Eclipsing Candidates and National Parties in Election Spending in 2012 “

 <http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p%3D45559&title=%E2%80%9COutside%20Money%20Takes%20the%20Inside%20Track%E2%80%9D&description=> 

Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>  | Comments Off 


 

-- 
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's 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
Now available: The Voting Wars: http://amzn.to/y22ZTv
 
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