[EL] "Popular Uprising"

Tue Mar 11 09:41:27 PDT 2014

Regarding Ms. vanden Heuvel's piece, it is difficult to see how a topic that barely registers a blip on any poll of American's priorities will fuel a "popular uprising."  For instance, here's a tally of polls about priorities, some of which were taken shortly after Citizens United, showing that Americans simply don't care much about the issue.

http://www.pollingreport.com/prioriti.htm

Her solution to this seething mass of rest is taxpayer-financed campaigns.  However, this "reform" is not terribly popular either.  In the same election as one in which they elected a member of the Socialist Alternative Party to the City Council, Seattle voters rejected a taxpayer-financed campaign plan.  Portland, Oregon, voters had earlier rejected a similar system.  It is difficult to think of a more welcome environment for progressive policy proposals than these two cities and yet the idea failed in each.  California has similarly rejected initiatives regarding the issue, sometimes by large margins.  I doubt if Governor Cuomo would be willing to put his proposal to a vote, even if such an opportunity existed.

In sum, it is clear that, assuming McCutcheon comes out the way reformers dread, will prompt calls to fix something about which the voters are disinterested with a "solution" voters don't want.

Bill

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Rick Hasen
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 7:47 AM
To: law-election at uci.edu
Subject: [EL] ELB News and Commentary 3/11/14

Katrina vanden Heuvel: The 'next Citizens United' may fuel a popular uprising"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59368>
Posted on March 11, 2014 7:43 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59368> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo column<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/katrina-vanden-heuvel-the-next-citizens-united-may-fuel-a-popular-uprising/2014/03/11/6e1c0892-a898-11e3-b61e-8051b8b52d06_story.html>.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
"Ready for a surprise? Money DOES equal access in Washington"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59366>
Posted on March 11, 2014 7:38 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59366> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Another fascinating piece<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/03/11/ready-for-a-surprise-money-does-equal-access-in-washington/> today:

Two political science graduate students are now seeking to bring some precision to that discussion through the kind of randomized, controlled study used to test the impact of pharmaceuticals.

Joshua Kalla at Yale University and David Broockman at the University of California, Berkeley, are out today with the results of a novel field experiment<http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/%7Ebroockma/kalla_broockman_donor_access_field_experiment.pdf> that measured how campaign donations - even the prospect of them - alter the behavior of members of Congress and their staff....

It's worth noting that all those who met with congressional offices were real CREDO members or political donors, none of whom knew they were part of an experiment.

The results: Only 2.4 percent of the offices made the member of Congress or chief of staff available when they believed those attending were just constituents, but 12.5 percent did when they were told the attendees were political donors.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, legislation and legislatures<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>, lobbying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>
"Forms of Influence and the Best Bet"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59364>
Posted on March 11, 2014 7:35 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59364> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Interesting Bob Bauer post<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2014/03/forms-influence-best-bet/> on, among other things, yesterday's NYT Herbalife story:

What is missing here is the campaign contribution, or the independent expenditure, or a hint that either is under consideration.  This is because, as Pildes suggests, "corporations probably are probably able to attain influence more effectively through spending their money on  lobbying specific issues, rather than generally trying to influence election outcomes." Richard Pildes, How Consequential is Citizens United?, ELECTION LAW BLOG, November 9, 2011, http://electionlawblog.org/?p=25207.  Campaign cash  still makes its appearance, but not, in a leading role, except that it remains central in the vast majority of conversation, theorizing, writing and reporting about the role of money in politics and the future of reform. Lobbying<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2013/06/disclosure-priorities/>, along with the related question of the standards of official conduct<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2013/09/political-contributions-conflicts-of-interest-and-the-role-of-ethical-standards/>, lag well behind in these discussions: consider that the first major lobbing law reform came fully two decades after the enactment of the 1974 Watergate-era campaign financing reforms.   Yet for interests with billions at stake and much to spend, lobbying and the other forms of paid advocacy and pressure are still the best bet.
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Posted in lobbying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>
"Money in Politics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59362>
Posted on March 11, 2014 7:32 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59362> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Great event and lineup<http://www.valpo.edu/law/law-review> at Valpariso April 4 that unfortunately I have to miss.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
"How A Mysterious Redacted Document Could Affect Money in Politics"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59360>
Posted on March 11, 2014 7:31 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59360> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Fascinating Shane Goldmacher<http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/how-a-mysterious-redacted-document-could-affect-money-in-politics-20140311> report for National Journal:

The Federal Election Commission was deadlocked, and no one was surprised. Democrats had wanted to crack down; Republicans didn't. No matter that it could have been among the most important campaign finance decisions in years. No matter that the agency's general counsel had recommended action. Divided equally and hopelessly by ideology, the six commissioners were at a stalemate.

It was all perfectly ordinary for this dysfunctional agency. All except for footnote 111.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>
"Activist lawyer aims to drop campaign restrictions"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59358>
Posted on March 11, 2014 7:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59358> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

USA Today profiles<http://www.jconline.com/usatoday/article/6259863> conservative campaign finance lawyer Dan Backer.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
"The irony of Ben & Jerry's opposition to Citizens United should not go unnoticed"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59356>
Posted on March 10, 2014 3:15 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59356> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Derek Muller's blog post<http://excessofdemocracy.com/blog/2014/3/the-irony-of-ben-jerrys-opposition-to-citizens-united-should-not-go-unnoticed> should not go unread.

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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
"New Report on Restoring Voting Rights for Former Felons"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59354>
Posted on March 10, 2014 2:48 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59354> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Project Vote release<http://projectvote.org/component/content/article/1063-new-report-on-restoring-voting-rights-for-former-felons.html>.
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Posted in felon voting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>
"Ice Cream Makers Ben & Jerry Take on Citizens United"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59352>
Posted on March 10, 2014 2:45 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59352> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Takeaway reports<http://www.thetakeaway.org/story/founders-ben-jerrys-campaign-finance/>.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
"After Big Bet, Hedge Fund Pulls the Levers of Power"<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59349>
Posted on March 10, 2014 9:54 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=59349> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Important and extensive NYT repor<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/10/business/staking-1-billion-that-herbalife-will-fail-then-ackman-lobbying-to-bring-it-down.html?hp>t:

Regulators frequently get entreaties from financiers urging action for their own financial gain, like the hedge fund executives who in 2010 tried to secretly push Obama administration<http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/entry/crew-calls-for-investigation-into-possible-market-manipulation-wall-street> officials to investigate for-profit colleges, again citing fraudulent industry practices, after betting that their stocks would decline.

But Mr. Ackman's efforts illustrate how Washington is increasingly becoming a battleground of Wall Street's financial titans, whose interest in influencing public policy is driven primarily by a desire for profit - part of an expanding practice in the nation's capital, with corporations, law firms and lobbying practices establishing political intelligence units to gather news they can trade on.

So far, Mr. Ackman has persuaded four members of Congress, a New York State senator, a City Council member in Boston, the majority leader of the Nevada Senate and other elected officials in California to join the cause. Prominent consumer advocates in Washington, as well as leaders of well-respected Hispanic and African-American community groups who have been lobbied by Mr. Ackman's team, have also written regulators demanding action.
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Posted in lobbying<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>

--

Rick Hasen

Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science

UC Irvine School of Law

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949.824.0495 - fax

rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>

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