[EL] ELB News and Commentary 5/7/13

Mon May 6 21:11:26 PDT 2013

    "Coordination Reconsidered" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49939>

Posted on May 6, 2013 8:26 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49939> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Must-read 
<http://www.columbialawreview.org/coordination-reconsidered_briffault/> 
Richard Briffault at /Columbia Law Review/'s Sidebar:

    The Supreme Court's insistence that independent spending does not
    pose dangers of corruption or the appearance of corruption has been
    doubtful from the start, as candidates are surely aware of and
    gratified by the support provided by independent groups, much as
    members of the public may be concerned about how that gratitude
    could affect official decisionmaking by successful candidates after
    the election. But there is at least some constitutional claim to
    recognizing the expressive and associational rights of groups---like
    the Christian Coalition---that have existence independent of a
    specific election campaign and policies and goals apart from and in
    addition to the election of a single, specific candidate.
    Single-candidate committees established and operated by recent
    former staff to the candidate or hailed by the candidate as
    organizations to which financial backers of the candidate should
    send their funds, however, are not /independent /in the sense that
    /Buckley/ sought to protect. Rather, their spending flouts
    /Buckley/'s contribution/expenditure distinction.

    The explosion of independent spending funded by Super PACs and other
    organizations in the last two election cycles raises new questions
    about the effectiveness of contribution limits and, perhaps, about
    the value of maintaining
    them.<http://www.columbialawreview.org/coordination-reconsidered_briffault/#62>^62
    <http://www.columbialawreview.org/coordination-reconsidered_briffault/#62>//But
    if the law is to continue to limit contributions because of the
    dangers of corruption and the appearance of corruption they pose,
    and to maintain the integrity of the contribution/expenditure
    distinction that has been a foundational part of our campaign
    finance law for nearly four decades, it is essential to redefine
    coordination to address the emergence of single-candidate Super
    PACs. The proposal in this Essay is intended as a contribution to
    that process.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    Revised Version of My Latest Response to Larry @Lessig
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49937>

Posted on May 6, 2013 8:25 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49937> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have posted here an updated version <http://ssrn.com/abstract=2220851> 
of Is 'Dependence Corruption' Distinct from a Political Equality 
Argument for Campaign Finance Laws? A Reply to Professor Lessig, which 
is now forthcoming in the /Election Law Journal. /Among other things, 
the updated version briefly responds to Larry's Jorde Lecture 
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2257948> at Boalt, 
where he gave further thoughts on our conversation.

And with these last two drafts I think this dialogue has reached its 
end.  I learned a great deal from my exchange with Larry and I hope to 
have clarified some things on the similarities and differences between 
equality arguments and anti-corruption arguments made in support of 
campaign finance laws.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "It's Still About the Broken GOP" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49934>

Posted on May 6, 2013 1:01 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49934> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jonathan Bernstein 
<http://plainblogaboutpolitics.blogspot.com/2013/05/its-still-about-broken-gop.html>:

    I have to commend Ezra Klein for push, push, pushing everyone to
    understand the place of the presidency in the US political system.
    As he says, that system "is centered around Congress rather than the
    White House," and he's been doing terrific and incredibly valuable
    work explaining to people what this means in terms of the limits of
    what presidents can do. I do hope everyone reads his latest essay on
    the topic
    <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/03/politics-is-not-here-to-please-you/>,
    from his Wonkblog on Friday.

    That said, I continue to dissent from what Klein, Rick Hasen
    <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2243798>, and
    others say about polarization. Oh, there's no question about the
    levels of partisan polarization: we all agree about that. The key
    points are well documented; it's been the case for over a decade
    that the most liberal Republicans in the House and in the Senate are
    more conservative than the most conservative Democrats. Or at least
    that's how they vote in Congress, which is basically the same thing.
    And I think there's general consensus that polarization is probably
    pretty stable at these levels. Other than the emergence of some new
    and so far unexpected new ue area of public policy which cuts in a
    totally different way than current issues, there's really no reason
    to expect significant change.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, 
political parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>, political 
polarization <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68> | Comments Off

    "Inside the Democracy Alliance, the Liberal Answer to the Koch Donor
    Network" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49932>

Posted on May 6, 2013 1:00 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49932> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Andy Kroll writes 
<http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/05/democracy-alliance-liberal-donors-koch-brothers>.

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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

    "We got way too excited over money in the 2012 elections"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49929>

Posted on May 6, 2013 8:38 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49929> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ezra Klein writes 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/06/we-got-way-too-excited-over-money-in-the-2012-elections/>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "Viewpoints: Will the SEC save us from Citizens United?"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49927>

Posted on May 6, 2013 8:37 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49927> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jessica Levinson has written this SacBee oped 
<http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/04/5394092/will-the-sec-save-us-from-citizens.html#storylink=cpy>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10> | 
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    "The Reverse Revolving Door: How Corporate Insiders Are Rewarded
    Upon Leaving Firms For Congress" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49925>

Posted on May 6, 2013 8:36 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=49925> by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

/The Nation/ reports. 
<http://www.thenation.com/article/174151/reverse-revolving-door-how-coporate-insiders-are-rewarded-upon-leaving-firms-congress>

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