[EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/8/14

[Daniel Tokaji]

“Stephen Harper Does U-turn on Election Law Gagging Advocacy Groups”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68917>
Posted on December 8, 2014 8:37 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68917> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

News from Canada
<http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stephen-harper-does-u-turn-on-election-law-gagging-advocacy-groups-1.2863842>
on
outside spending restrictions.
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 Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
Malbin Calls for “Third Approach” to Party Coordination
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68912>
Posted on December 8, 2014 8:29 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68912> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

See this press release
<http://www.cfinst.org/Press/PReleases/14-12-08/CFI%E2%80%99s_Malbin_Calls_for_%E2%80%9CA_Third_Approach%E2%80%9D_to_Party_Coordination.aspx>
with
Michael Malbin’s remarks at COGEL
<http://www.cogel.org/?page=2014Conference> today.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“Truce in ‘Nuclear’ Filibuster War May Be Senate GOP’s Best Option”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68910>
Posted on December 8, 2014 6:44 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68910> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

David Hawkings
<http://blogs.rollcall.com/hawkings/nuclear-option-mcconnell/>.
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Posted in legislation and legislatures <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>

“McConnell Plots a Functional, Bipartisan Senate”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68905>
Posted on December 8, 2014 6:37 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68905> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

CQ Roll Call
<http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/mitch-mcconnell-plots-functional-senate/?dcz=>
interviews the incoming Senate Majority Leader. Among the items of interest
to students of the legislative process:

   - *McConnell wasn’t saying he would never use procedural tools, such as
   the Rule 14 process, to bypass committees or filling the ‘amendment tree’
   to block amendments, but he certainly wants those tools to be far more
   rarely used than in recent years under Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.*
   - *McConnell said Republicans are reviewing how to go at [Obamacare]
   through the budget reconciliation process
   <http://www.rollcall.com/news/lessons_for_lovers_of_long_shelved_budget_reconciliation-238306-1.html>
   — which would allow for passage of legislation through the House and Senate
   without needing Democratic votes — but said he wants fellow opponents of
   the law to be realistic.*
   - *McConnell wants to set up the real standoff with the White House on
   the regular funding of the government, restoring the old practice of
   getting 12 spending bills to the president’s desk well ahead of Sept. 30.
   “If you believe one of the biggest problems confronting the country is
   over-regulation by this administration, the single most effective way to
   begin to rein in the aggressive regulators who, in my view, have done great
   damage to this economy, is in the bills that fund the regulators,”
   McConnell said, citing the EPA as a top target.*

A transcript of the interview is here
<http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/mitch-mcconnell-interview-transcript/>.
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Posted in legislation and legislatures <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>

“Obama Fundraising Goal: $225,000-Per-Day for Presidential Library”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68901>
Posted on December 8, 2014 4:41 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68901> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Bloomberg Politics reports
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-08/obama-fundraising-goal-225000perday-for-presidential-library>
:

A reliance on private money to build the libraries and the lack of
disclosure has, over the years, troubled advocates for greater government
transparency.  “This is completely unregulated,” [University of Louisville
Professor Benjamin] Hufbauer said. “They can take any amount of money from
any source.”

The Obama foundation has established some self-imposed limits. It will not
accept donations from groups other than 501(c)(3) non-profits and will also
not take support from foreign nationals, currently registered federal
lobbyists or foreign agents. It plans to disclose all donors and donations
over $200 on a quarterly basis. So far, the Obama foundation has disclosed
<http://www.obamapresidentialfoundation.org/about#contributor-information>
the names of a small number of contributors who have donated more than
$100,000.

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Posted in conflict of interest laws <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>

“Democrats Spent Big in Secret Effort to Elect Kansas Independent Greg
Orman” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68899>
Posted on December 8, 2014 4:35 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68899> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

>From Bloomberg Politics
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-05/democrats-spent-big-in-secret-effort-to-elect-kansas-independent-greg-orman>,
on recent disclosures regarding Super PAC and nonprofit spending in last
month’s U.S. Senate elections.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“Their Senate, Their Rules: GOP May Allow Blocking Of Nominees Again”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68897>
Posted on December 8, 2014 4:23 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68897> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

NPR
<http://www.npr.org/2014/12/08/369276246/their-senate-their-rules-gop-may-allow-blocking-of-nominees-again>
on GOP Senators’ deliberations over whether to undo the “nuclear option”
for nominations.
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Posted in legislation and legislatures <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>
“Obama, Congress Brace For Veto Showdowns”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68895>
Posted on December 8, 2014 4:05 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68895> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

AP has this story
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/07/obama-congress-veto_n_6283688.html>
on
the likely prospect of more vetoes in the last two years of the Obama
presidency.
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Posted in legislation and legislatures <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>
A Liberal Ballot-Initiative Push in 2016?
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68892>
Posted on December 8, 2014 4:00 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68892> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Politico reports
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/democrats-2016-elections-113382.html#ixzz3LJ5Q1yL3>:
“Groups supporting marijuana legalization, background checks on firearms
and raising the minimum wage told POLITICO to expect a larger slate of
ballot propositions in 2016 than during the past several election cycles.
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Posted in direct democracy <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62>
“The Kochs Eclipse the RNC: Meet the Guys Behind the Right’s Best Data Shop”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68890>
Posted on December 8, 2014 3:57 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68890> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

>From Politico
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/koch-brothers-rnc-113359.html?hp=t1_r>
:

The Koch brothers and their allies are pumping tens of millions of dollars
into a data company that’s developing detailed, state-of-the-art profiles
of 250 million Americans, giving the brothers’ political operation all the
earmarks of a national party.

The move comes as mainstream Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, are
trying to reclaim control of the conservative movement from outside groups.
The Kochs, however, are continuing to amass all of the campaign tools the
Republican National Committee and other party arms use to elect a president.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, political
parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>
“Investigation Sought on Election Judge Confusion over Robocalls”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68888>
Posted on December 8, 2014 3:47 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68888> by *Dan
Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Report from Chicago
<http://www.gazettechicago.com/index/2014/12/investigation-sought-on-election-judge-confusion-over-robocalls/>
:

Outraged officials from Mayor Rahm Emanuel on down are demanding a thorough
investigation into the election day robocalls that may have kept close to
2,000 election judges away from the polls, mostly on the South and West
sides….

The robocalls told election judges they had to attend an additional
training session to collect their $170 for working the polls — and that
they had to vote Republican if they were working as Republican judges.

In one of the robocalls, an anonymous caller told judges that “Part of
being a Republican judge means supporting our Republican ticket…We also
encourage you to bring a friend to vote to help increase our turnout.”

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Posted in chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>
“Assessing the Impact of Voter Suppression Laws in the 2014 Midterms”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68885>
Posted on December 7, 2014 11:23 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=68885> by
*Dan Tokaji* <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=5>

Ben Jealous and Ryan Haygood have this op-ed
<http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2014/12/report_the_impact_of_voter_suppression_laws.html>
in the Root regarding this report
<http://www.naacpldf.org/press-release/examining-impact-voter-suppression-2014-midterm-elections>
from the Center for American Progress, the NAACP Legal Defense
& Educational Fund Inc., and the Southern Elections Foundation.  See also this
story
<http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/12/report_characterizes_alabama_p.html>
discussing
the report’s findings on Alabama’s ID law.
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Posted in The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>





-- 
Daniel Tokaji
Charles W. Ebersold & Florence Whitcomb Ebersold Professor of
Constitutional Law
The Ohio State University | Moritz College of Law
614.292.6566 | @Title52law <https://twitter.com/Title52law>
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