[EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/5/15

Sat Dec 5 12:20:28 PST 2015

    “Hillary Clinton Fortifies Ties and Fund-Raising With Democratic
    Committee” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78056>

Posted onDecember 5, 2015 12:18 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78056>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/us/politics/hillary-clinton-fortifies-ties-and-fund-raising-with-democratic-committee.html?ref=politics>:

    Trying to build up her arsenal for a general election,Hillary
    Clinton
    <http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/hillary-rodham-clinton>’s
    campaign is asking donors to write big-money checks to theDemocratic
    National Committee
    <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/d/democratic_national_committee/index.html?inline=nyt-org>while
    taking a greater interest in how it is performing its duties.

    In recent weeks, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign aides have started to
    scrutinize what have historically been core functions of the party
    committee, some of which atrophied under President Obama, according
    to people briefed on the reviews.

    The reviews have been undertaken at the request of Mrs. Clinton’s
    campaign manager, Robby Mook, who has taken a particular interest in
    how the research and communications operations are functioning,
    according to the people briefed, who asked for anonymity to discuss
    private deliberations. Among the questions her team is looking at,
    gingerly, are staffing and dexterity in combating an increasingly
    unpredictable Republican field.

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,political parties 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>

    2 NYT Pieces Shed Light on Current Polarization in Congress
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78054>

Posted onDecember 5, 2015 12:13 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78054>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Lawmakers Near Deal on Billions in Tax Cuts 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/us/politics/lawmakers-near-deal-on-billions-in-tax-cuts.html?ref=politics>:

    The package would extend or make permanent around 50 temporary tax
    breaks that have expired or will soon lapse. By combining business
    breaks that are priorities of Republicans with tax credits for
    lower-income workers and families that are critical to Democrats,
    negotiators are seeking a balanced package that could transcend the
    partisanship that often paralyzes Congress….

    For decades, Republicans as well as many Democrats, including Mr.
    Obama, have called for making some of the tax extenders permanent,
    including the research credit. But they could not agree on
    offsetting savings, mainly because Republicans refused to increase
    other taxes.

    Now, with both parties colluding to waive the pay-as-you-go
    principle that legislation should not increase annual deficits, the
    negotiators from the House and Senate tax committees — in
    consultation with congressional leaders and the Obama administration
    — have bid up the size of the package over days of talks.

Not Even Catharsis Is Seen in Senate Vote to Repeal Health Law 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/us/politics/not-even-catharsis-is-seen-in-senate-vote-to-repeal-health-law.html?ref=politics>:

    Senate Republicans have finally fulfilled their long quest to pass
    legislation repealingPresident Obama
    <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per>’s
    landmarkhealth care law
    <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/health_care_reform/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>,
    and Congress will soon send the measure to the White House, where it
    might have a chance of being folded into origami or a fleet of paper
    airplanes, but no possibility of being signed into law.

    While a veto is certain, putting the repeal measure on Mr. Obama’s
    desk will fulfill a pledge by Republicans, highlighting how fiercely
    they still oppose the law nearly six years after it was passed
    solely by the votes of Democrats, the only bill of such consequence
    in modern American history to be approved on a strictly party-line vote.

    So, what next?

    It is unclear that lawmakers have drawn constructive lessons from
    the experience, and there is no sign that either party will use the
    repeal vote as a cathartic turning point onto a more cooperative
    path. Republicans say they will spend the election year using the
    vote as part of a broader call to elect a president of their party
    to get rid of the Affordable Care Act altogether. Democrats concede
    cooperation from their side is unlikely.

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Posted inlegislation and legislatures 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>,political polarization 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>,primaries 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>

    “The Daily Show Remixes Awkward Ted Cruz Footage, Asks You to ‘Cruz
    Your Own Adventure” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78052>

Posted onDecember 5, 2015 11:54 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78052>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Vulture 
<http://www.vulture.com/2015/12/daily-show-remixes-awkward-ted-cruz-footage.html#>reports 
on the use of B roll Cruz footage for Super PAC purposes.

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,election law "humor" 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=52>

    “FEC Deadlocks on Santorum Coordination Case”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78050>

Posted onDecember 4, 2015 5:40 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78050>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bloomberg BNA 
<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/MPDMWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=80036511&vname=mpebulallissues&jd=a0h6e4q7v7&split=0>:

    he Federal Election Commission has deadlocked in a 3-3 vote over
    allegations of illegal coordination involving the 2012 presidential
    campaign of former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a super political
    action committee supporting Santorum, and Foster Freiss, a wealthy
    Santorum supporter who funded the super PAC, known as the Red, White
    and Blue Fund.
    The FEC also dismissed charges involving payments allegedly made by
    the National Organization for Marriage, a nonprofit supporting
    Santorum, to secure a key endorsement for his presidential campaign.
    The FEC commissioners voted unanimously to exercise “prosecutorial
    discretion” in dismissing these charges.
    The FEC released documents Dec. 4 in an enforcement case involving
    the Santorum campaign designated Matter Under Review (MUR 6740). It
    was the latest in a series of enforcement matters in which
    Democratic and Republican FEC commissioners split over whether to
    pursue allegations involving presidential super PACs and other matters.

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,federal 
election commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

    Evenwel Plaintiff Has Disturbing Views of Jews, Gays and Others
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78047>

Posted onDecember 4, 2015 2:34 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78047>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Wowthis Stephanie Mencimer piece 
<http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/12/evenwel-abbott-supreme-court-redistricting>at 
Mother Jones. I don’t care all that much that one of Ed Blum’s Evenwel 
plaintiffs believes in unicorns.  But this is much more disturbing:

    Evenwel is an outspoken critic of illegal immigrants, and she
    hasclaimed
    <http://http//titusgop.blogspot.com/2012_01_01_archive.html>on the
    Titus County GOP’s website that the state’s present legislative
    boundary-drawing process has the primary objective of giving “equal
    representation to a block of undocumented people who are not
    eligible or registered to vote.” Evenwel has also lashed out at
    Muslims,warning in an
    op-ed<http://www.dailytribune.net/opinion/the-islamization-of-america/article_1146bfee-1233-51e0-a6da-e308ac2d5bca.html>that
    showing tolerance to them means that Shariah law could “usurp the US
    Constitution.” And she has claimed that all money donated to mosques
    funds jihad.

    Her co-plaintiff, Ed Pfenninger, has expressed some equally
    eyebrow-raising views. A Christian fundamentalist who works as a
    security guard in Porter, Texas, Pfenningeroperates a YouTube
    channel
    <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Qdmnxz6SkqWnVN_SxUSUg>where he’s
    posted hours of videos of himself expounding on his beliefs. For
    instance, he’s described the Catholic Church as “the Mother of
    Harlots.” He’s also said that Jews are “enemies of the cross,” and
    that God created Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust because he “wanted
    the Jews back into the Land.” Pfenninger also cites the Bible to
    justify his belief that women with short hair are somehow shameful….

    By Blum’s own standards, though, Evenwel and Pfenninger may fall
    short as model plaintiffs. Blum, who says he’s known Pfenninger for
    15 years, was unfamiliar with Pfenninger’s views on science and was
    outraged at any suggestion that he should have vetted his
    plaintiff’s religious beliefs. “These are civil rights cases. I
    don’t need to quiz everyone about their views on climate change,
    evolution, or global warming. I just need to know that someone is
    not a bigot. If Ed Pfenninger is not a bigot, a racist, or a
    homophobe or an anti-Semite, then he will fall within my purview as
    a legitimate client.”

    In fact, Pfenninger has written and said a number of things over the
    years on his YouTube channel disparaging gays and Jews. In 2010,he
    told one commenter <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51p1QGbKb14>that
    in the Bible, “homosexuality is condemned as a ‘vile affection’
    (Rom.1:26) and that is a universal, eternal, unchanging truth.” He’s
    referred to gays as “sodomites” and has said homosexuality is a
    “perversion” akin to incest.

    When I directed Blum to inflammatory statements made by Pfenninger
    and Evenwel, he replied via email with a short statement. “I remain
    persuaded that my clients are not bigots, racists, or anti Semites.”

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Posted inSupreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    “4 Court Cases That Could Impact the 2016 Elections”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78045>

Posted onDecember 4, 2015 1:33 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78045>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Nathan Gonzales writes 
<http://blogs.rollcall.com/rothenblog/4-court-cases-impact-2016-elections/>for 
Roll Call.

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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,Supreme Court 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    CLC Video on Harris Redistricting Case at SCOTUS
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78043>

Posted onDecember 4, 2015 11:54 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78043>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here 
<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/news/press-releases/campaign-legal-center-explains-what-s-stake-upcoming-supreme-court-arizona>.

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Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>,Supreme Court 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    “Democrats call Ohio’s purgings of voter rolls too aggressive”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78041>

Posted onDecember 4, 2015 11:17 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78041>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Columbus Dispatch 
<http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/12/03/legislator-opposes-ohios-purgings-of-voter-rolls-as-too-aggressive.html>:

    Ohio House Democrats and some liberal advocacy groups want to put an
    end to the state’s purging of people from voter-registration rolls
    just because they move within the state or have not voted for a few
    years.

    But Secretary of State Jon Husted’s office says Ohio is following
    federal law when it clears inactive voters off the rolls.

    Rep. Kathleen Clyde, D-Kent, says Ohio is too aggressive in purging
    people from the voter rolls. It has removed 2 million names over the
    past five years. Husted’s office said that total includes more than
    400,000 deceased voters.

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Posted inelection administration 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

    LDF Press Briefing on Evenwel <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78039>

Posted onDecember 4, 2015 11:14 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78039>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Listen 
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzeC-gMUv1gPVThoTkIwZ1hLZjg/view>(*beginning 
at 46:49*):

On December 3, 2015, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund hosted a press 
briefing on/Evenwel v. Abbott/– to be argued at the U.S. Supreme Court 
on December 8. The briefing featured insights from:

Nina Perales, Vice President of Litigation, MALDEF (Mexican American 
Legal Defense and Educational Fund)

Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and 
Educational Fund

Patrick Bresette, Texas Executive Director, Children’s Defense Fund

Nathaniel Persily, James B. McClatchy Professor of Law, Stanford Law School

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Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>,Supreme Court 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    “Reps. Sarbanes, Deutch and More Than 110 Members Call on
    Congressional Leadership to Walk Away from Controversial Campaign
    Finance Rider” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78037>

Posted onDecember 4, 2015 11:10 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78037>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Release. 
<https://sarbanes.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-sarbanes-deutch-and-more-than-110-members-call-on-congressional>

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    “Why Clinton’s Fundraising Prowess Cuts Both Ways”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78035>

Posted onDecember 4, 2015 11:08 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78035>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Eliza Newlin Carney writes 
<http://prospect.org/article/why-clintons-fundraising-prowess-cuts-both-ways>from 
her new perch at The American Prospect.

I’m looking forward to lots of Eliza columns free of a paywall this 
election season!

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

-- 
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://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org

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