[EL] Citizens United Pushback

Sat Feb 25 15:24:41 PST 2012

I got a tickle out of Brad's remarks bemoaning how "tendentious" things are on the issue of campaign finance reform while simultaneously using words like "xenophobic", "hysteria", "race-baiting" to characterize the people that disagree with him.

I can't help but wonder whether Mr Smith is tossing around terms 
like "xenophobe" and "race-baiting" because doing so is easier than 
addressing concerns about the gaping holes the C.U. decision leaves open
 for allowing foreign individuals and entities that hold controlling 
interests in domestic corporations to play a determinative role in 
federal elections. 

C.U. has not given greater rise to more voices in our federal elections.  At best, it has given a bigger megaphone
 to billionaires and made candidates far more beholden to far fewer people.  

________________________________
 From: "Smith, Brad" <BSmith at law.capital.edu>
To: "law-election at uci.edu" <law-election at uci.edu> 
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 5:40 PM
Subject: [EL] Citizens United Pushback

Rick asks, "Why the pushback about whether superpacs created by Citizens United? To defend the Supreme Court against charges it created monster"    

I never would have thought that calling out repeated factual errors by major media outlets would require some justification other than the obvious fact that repeated factual errors were being made by major media outlets.  To the extent that erroneous descriptions of Citizens United, erroneous reports of its consequences, and general bias have sometimes seemed the result of a purposeful attempt by opponents of Citizens United to give the impression that a "monster" was created, including xenophobic race-baiting about "foreigners," however, I suppose that might be the justification.

Citizens United was, is and remains a success story. There  is more information in circulation; we've seen increased voter interest, more competitive races and more races that are competitive. None of the dire predictions made by opponents of the decision have come true, unless one considers increased spending itself a "dire" result, regardless of the consequences of that spending. Of course, everyone knew that increased spending would result, and in and of itself that is hardly a bad thing. 

But if we must be so tendentious, however, I think the question is best thought of in the opposite terms: why such hysteria about Super PACs and Citizens United? To justify the effort to limit the speech of one's political opponents, that's why.

Bradley A. Smith
Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault
   Professor of Law
Capital University Law School
303 E. Broad St.
Columbus, OH 43215
614.236.6317
http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx

________________________________

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] on behalf of Rick Hasen [rhasen at law.uci.edu]
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 7:51 PM
To: law-election at uci.edu
Subject: [EL] more news 2/24/12

“Rick Santorum speaks at super PAC fundraiser” 
Posted on February 24, 2012 4:49 pm by Rick Hasen 
Politico: “Rick Santorum on Thursday afternoon slipped away from the campaign trail to speak to a fundraiser for a supportive super PAC, despite denying previous reports that he planned to do so.”
Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
“Bill Maher gives $1 million to pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA” 
Posted on February 24, 2012 1:56 pm by Rick Hasen 
WaPo reports.
Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
Is Wendy Kaminer Related to the Abrams? 
Posted on February 24, 2012 12:50 pm by Rick Hasen 
On Super PACs: She too has now accused the media of misrepresenting the effect of Citizens United on Super PACs.  Please see my response to Floyd Abrams, and Dan Abrams.
Why the pushback about whether superpacs created by Citizens United? To defend the Supreme Court against charges it created monster
(You can watch me mix it up with Floyd Abrams about Citizens United at an event (to be webcast) at the University of Michigan on March 5.)
Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
“Chief justice ‘very concerned’ about November’s retention election” 
Posted on February 24, 2012 12:45 pm by Rick Hasen 
Radio Iowa: “Four of the seven justices on the Iowa Supreme Court will be listed on November’s election ballot for a “retention” election and the court’s chief justice says he’s ‘very concerned.’ In 2010, three Iowa Supreme Court justices, including the former chief justice, were voted off the court after a campaign was launched against them because of the court’s 2009 ruling on same-sex marriage. The three justices appointed to replace them are on this November’s ballot for another retention vote, along with another justice who’s been on the court since 2003.”
Posted in judicial elections | Comments Off 
Kentucky Supreme Court Blocks State Legislative Districts 
Posted on February 24, 2012 12:34 pm by Rick Hasen 
See here. The remedy is use of the 2002 districts, which could well violate one person, one vote.  Who will sue in federal court?
Posted in redistricting | Comments Off 
“Restore Our Future Super PAC Illegally Coordinates with the Romney Campaign” 
Posted on February 24, 2012 12:06 pm by Rick Hasen 
Fred Wertheimer statement.
Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
Bopp, Potter on NPR’s Fresh Air 
Posted on February 24, 2012 12:04 pm by Rick Hasen 
Links toBopp, Potter.
Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
“In legislatures and courtrooms, busy weeks ahead for voter ID” 
Posted on February 24, 2012 11:46 am by Rick Hasen 
MSNBC reports.
Posted in election administration, The Voting Wars, voter id | Comments Off 
“Watchdog groups say recycled ’07 Romney ad violates campaign finance laws” 
Posted on February 24, 2012 11:00 am by Rick Hasen 
Politico: “But Paul Ryan, a lawyer at the Campaign Legal Center, said the FEC’s regulations on coordination and republication of candidate materials are ‘crystal clear,’ and that Restore Our Future is violating them regardless of where they purchased the footage. It also doesn’t matter, he said, that the ad footage comes from a past election cycle.”
Having looked at the relevant regulation andbackground, I think Paul’s right.
What would be the consequences if the FEC goes after Restore our Future for the violation?  The group may eventually be be fined.  But so what?  That’s the beauty of these Super PACs.  They are unaccountable and will disappear after the election.  Any complaint won’t get decided before the election.
Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
“Voter Suppression Battle Just the Latest Fight to Protect the Vote; Disenfranchisement Is a Constant Theme Running Through African American History” 
Posted on February 24, 2012 10:48 am by Rick Hasen 
Carl Chancellor has writtenthis article for the Center for American Progress.
Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
Constitutional Accountability Center Previews D.C. Circuit Argument Monday in LaRoque Voting Rights Act Case 
Posted on February 24, 2012 9:55 am by Rick Hasen 
Here.
Posted in Voting Rights Act | Comments Off 
“Public Citizen Applauds SEC Commissioner for Speaking Out for Disclosure of Corporate Political Spending” 
Posted on February 24, 2012 9:52 am by Rick Hasen 
Lisa Gilbert: “The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is getting with the times and is now receptive to Public Citizen’s push to require publicly traded companies to disclose their political spending. At today’s conference, ‘SEC Speaks,’ Securities and Exchange Commissioner Luis Aguilar loudly championed the key reform of political spending disclosure, saying that ‘investors are not receiving adequate disclosure, and as the investor’s advocate, the commission should act swiftly to rectify the situation.’”
I have posted Commissioner Aguilar’s comments at this link. 
Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
“How the South Carolina ‘dead voters’ hoax collapsed” 
Posted on February 24, 2012 9:10 am by Rick Hasen 
Must read expose of Fraudulent Fraud Squad, South Carolina edition.
Posted in election administration, fraudulent fraud squad, The Voting Wars, voter id | Comments Off 
Trevor Potter Talks to NPR’s Fresh Air about Campaign Finance 
Posted on February 24, 2012 8:51 am by Rick Hasen 
Here.
Posted in campaign finance | 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

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