[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/29/13

Mon Jan 28 21:26:01 PST 2013

    Charles Lane on Mancur Olson, Barack Obama, Collective Action, and
    the Rise and Decline of Nations <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46703>

Posted on January 28, 2013 9:22 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46703> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Interesting column 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-lane-common-interest-rarely-wins-the-day/2013/01/28/c746bb40-6985-11e2-af53-7b2b2a7510a8_story.html?hpid=z2>:

    The problem is not, as the president implied, the opposition of an
    implacable few to the manifest general interest.

    Rather, it is that Washington is besieged by mutually offsetting
    lobbies representing almost every conceivable segment of society.
    Some (e.g., teacher unions) collect under the Democratic Party
    banner; some (e.g., independent oil operators) tilt Republican; and
    many (Wall Street, agribusiness, hospitals) have their hooks in both
    parties.

I discuss the connection between Olson's theory, national welfare, and 
lobbying reform in this /Stanford Law Review /article 
<http://www.stanfordlawreview.org/print/article/lobbying-rent-seeking-and-constitution>, 
Lobbying Rent-Seeking, and the Constitution.

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

    "Obama's Parting Gift to Hillary Clinton"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46700>

Posted on January 28, 2013 9:16 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46700> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bloomberg Businessweek 
<http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-28/obamas-parting-gift-to-hillary-clinton#r=read>: 
"Last week campaign disclosure reports 
<http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00431569/848323/> 
revealed that Hillary Clinton had finally retired the debt from her 2008 
presidential campaign---with a little help from the guy who beat her, 
Barack Obama. Clinton's debt once totaled more than $20 million, 
although it had dwindled to about $250,000 by last year. That's when a 
team of top Obama donors decided to surprise Clinton, and thank her for 
her loyal service, by raising enough money to pay off her bills. As 
secretary of state, she was forbidden from political fundraising."

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "Biotech Firms, Billions at Risk, Lobby States to Limit Generics"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46697>

Posted on January 28, 2013 8:53 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46697> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Front page NYT report. 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/business/battle-in-states-on-generic-copies-of-biotech-drugs.html?hp>

<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/business/battle-in-states-on-generic-copies-of-biotech-drugs.html?hp> 

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

    "Hillary Clinton supporters launch super PAC"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46694>

Posted on January 28, 2013 8:52 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46694> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Fix reports 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/01/28/hillary-clinton-supporters-launch-super-pac/>.

At this stage so long before 2016, what can one say except, #Bqhatevwr 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/01/28/bqhatevwr-or-why-scott-brown-needs-to-address-his-tweets/?tid=pm_politics_pop>?

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "Gov. Walker voices concerns about GOP Electoral College plan"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46692>

Posted on January 28, 2013 8:49 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46692> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

JS Online <http://m.jsonline.com/blogs/news/188756171.html>: "Gov. Scott 
Walker says he has a 'real concern' about a Republican idea to change 
the way the state awards its electoral votes, conceding the move could 
make Wisconsin irrelevant in presidential campaigns."

No surprise <http://t.co/8SXOGocx>.

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Posted in electoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44> | 
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    "The biometric solution(s); On voter fraud and illegal immigration,
    high-tech ID cards could help." <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46689>

Posted on January 28, 2013 8:44 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46689> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bob Pastor has written this LA Times oped. 
<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-pastor-immigration-biometric-id-20130129,0,2155557.story>

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, 
voter id <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9> | Comments Off

    "Parts of West Virginia Election Law Revived"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46687>

Posted on January 28, 2013 8:42 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46687> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Courthouse News Service 
<http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/01/28/54328.htm>: "The 4th Circuit 
revived <http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Published/111952.P.pdf> 
portions of West Virginia's campaign-finance law that sets reporting and 
disclaimer requirements for political backers."

The opinion upheld some reporting requirements but held others violated 
the First Amendment.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    Rachel Maddow on Michigan, Florida, Voting and the Electoral College
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46684>

Posted on January 28, 2013 1:35 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46684> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Watch <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/50594542#50594542>.

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, 
electoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44> | Comments Off

    New Blog from CPI --- Primary Source
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46681>

Posted on January 28, 2013 1:17 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46681> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Center for Public Integrity has officially launched 
<http://www.publicintegrity.org/politics/primary-source> a new blog 
called "Primary Source," which will serve as a daily diary of 
developments in the post-Citizens United world of money in politics.

Check it out!

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

    "Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Challenges President Obama's
    501(c)(4) Group, Organizing for Action"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46678>

Posted on January 28, 2013 1:05 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46678> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The following statement arrived via email:

    *Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Challenges President Obama's
    501(c)(4) Group, Organizing for Action*

    At the beginning of his first term, President Obama issued a
    sweeping executive order to establish unprecedented new ethics rules
    for his Administration.

    His second term is beginning in the polar opposite way.

    Through his political agents, the President has created a section
    501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization, Organizing for Action, that will
    raise and spend money from corporations and other special interests
    to support his policy agenda.

    The creation of Organizing for Action has established an
    unprecedented vehicle for potential influence-buying,
    influence-selling and government scandals for his Administration
    during his second term.

    The /Washington Post/ raised concerns about Obama's new organization
    in an editorial entitled "Obama's Cashier's Window?" According to
    the /Post /editorial (January 28, 2013):

    What's most troubling is that President Obama seems to have
    developed a tin ear about shadow money in politics. In the aftermath
    of the Supreme Court's decision in the /Citizens United/
    campaign-finance case, Mr. Obama warned of "a new stampede of
    special-interest money in our politics."

    Why, then, is he opening a cashier's window with his name on it for
    the same special interests? The president and his team may be
    wizards at social media and grass-roots organizing, but from an
    influence-peddling standpoint this organization looks to be fraught
    with hazard.

    Functioning as a virtual arm of the Obama presidency, Organizing for
    Action will solicit and accept money from corporations and other
    special interests seeking to influence Obama Administration decisions.

    What happened to the President who warned us about the dangers of
    corporate money in the American political system?

    What happened to the President who warned us about the damage being
    done to our country by business as usual in Washington?

    What happened to the President who said in his 2010 State of the
    Union address, "We face a deficit of trust -- deep and corrosive
    doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years?"

    What does the President expect the American people to think when he
    attacked the /Citizens United/ decision as "a major victory for big
    oil," and then accepts $250,000 from ExxonMobil, the biggest of "big
    oil," to help pay for his second Inauguration?

    President Obama may think he can accept huge contributions from
    corporations and other special interests without undermining the
    trust of the American people and the credibility of his Administration.

    The President is wrong.

    President Obama should shut down Organizing for America and remain
    true to the repeated warnings he has given the nation about the
    dangers of corporate influence-money and business as usual in
    Washington.

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

    "Democrats Ready to Back Tea Party Candidate in Kentucky"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46674>

Posted on January 28, 2013 8:31 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46674> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Political Wire reports 
<http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/01/28/democrats_ready_to_back_tea_party_candidate_in_kentucky.html>.

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

    "Nonprofit spends big on politics despite IRS limitation"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46671>

Posted on January 28, 2013 8:28 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46671> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CPI reports 
<http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/01/23/12066/nonprofit-spends-big-politics-despite-irs-limitation>.

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

    "Philly ethics board giving teeth to campaign rules"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46668>

Posted on January 28, 2013 8:00 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=46668> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

See here. 
<http://newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/50125-ethics-board-giving-teeth-to-campaign-rules?linktype=hp_topstory>

<http://newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/50125-ethics-board-giving-teeth-to-campaign-rules?linktype=hp_topstory> 

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