[EL] ELB News and Commentary 11/24/15
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Tue Nov 24 07:50:43 PST 2015
“Bernie Sanders’s Rejection of ‘Super PACs’ Is Not Universal”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77784>
Posted onNovember 24, 2015 7:46 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77784>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT reports.
<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/24/bernie-sanderss-rejection-of-super-pacs-is-not-universal/?ref=politics&_r=0>
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“How GOP campaigns are strategizing for Super Tuesday’s delegate
bonanza” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77782>
Posted onNovember 24, 2015 7:44 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77782>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
WaPo reports.
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-gop-campaigns-are-strategizing-for-super-tuesday-delegate-bonanza/2015/11/22/17bbfca4-8fa1-11e5-ae1f-af46b7df8483_story.html>
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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,political
parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>,primaries
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>
“State, Utah GOP appear headed to court over election law — again”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77780>
Posted onNovember 24, 2015 7:38 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77780>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
KSL:
<https://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=37484610&nid=757&title=state-utah-gop-appear-headed-to-court-over-election-law-mdash-again>
A federal judge Monday permanently barred the state from forcing
political parties to hold open primary elections and dismissed all
other claims in the Utah Republican Party’s lawsuit.
As U.S. District Judge David Nuffer closed the case, the Utah GOP
and the state continued to wrangle over the meaning of part of the
law, setting the stage for another court battle, possibly before the
Utah Supreme Court.
Meantime, Gov. Gary Herbert told the Republican State Central
Committee over the weekend that he wishes he would have vetoed the
controversial new election law and let voters decide the issue as
proposed by the Count My Vote initiative.
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Posted inpolitical parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>
“The Reform Debate and the Parties”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77778>
Posted onNovember 24, 2015 7:31 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77778>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bauer blogs.
<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2015/11/reform-debate-parties/>
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,political
parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>,political polarization
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>
“The Citizen United President?” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77776>
Posted onNovember 24, 2015 7:30 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77776>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Robert Weisman oped i
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/11/24/citizens-united-president-campaign-finance-reform-column/76225654/>n
USA Today:
Will Barack Obama be remembered for standing by helplessly
as/Citizens United/eroded the very foundations of our electoral
democracy?
That may be an unfortunate part of his legacy if he fails to take
action soon to do something — anything — about the billions of
dollars in corporate and super-rich money flooding over the
electoral terrain.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,Supreme
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“Bipartisan Support for Limits on Campaign Spending”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77774>
Posted onNovember 24, 2015 7:28 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77774>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
More from that Pew stud
<http://www.people-press.org/2015/11/23/6-perceptions-of-elected-officials-and-the-role-of-money-in-politics/>y
I linked to yesterday:
Opinions on campaign finance and its effects on the political system
are widely shared; majorities across demographic and partisan groups
say there should be limits on campaign spending, that money’s impact
on politics has increased and that the high cost of campaigns is
driving away good candidates.Concern about money's influence on
politics crosses partisan lines
<http://www.people-press.org/files/2015/11/Elected-officials-10.png>
Partisan differences on all three measures are modest. Republicans
and Republican-leaning independents (72%) are less likely than
Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (84%) to say that
there should be limits on campaign spending. However, support for
spending limits is high even among conservative Republicans and
leaners –roughly two-thirds (68%) think there should be limits on
how much individuals and organizations can spend.
Democrats and leaners are somewhat more likely to say that the high
cost of campaigns today discourages good candidates: 68% say this
compared with 62% of Republicans and leaners.Widespread belief that
new laws would curb role of money in politics
While most Americans believe that new laws would be effective in
reducing the role of money in politics, there are educational and
partisan differences in how widely these views are held.
Fully three-quarters of those with post-graduate degrees say new
laws would be effective in this regard, compared with 57% of those
with no more than a high school education.
More Democrats and leaners (71%) than Republicans and leaners (58%)
say that new laws would be effective in limiting the influence of
money in politics. Nonetheless, majorities across all educational
and partisan categories say that new laws could be written that
would effectively reduce the role of money in politics.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
NBC Giving Equal Time to Presidential Candidates
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77766>
Posted onNovember 23, 2015 4:29 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77766>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
From Arizona’s Politics:
AZ’s Politics BREAKING: BLACK FRIDAY…and SATURDAY: NBC’s 60 Minutes of
Equal Time For GOP Presidential Candidates Will Be Spread Out This
Weekend
<http://arizonaspolitics.blogspot.com/2015/11/azs-politics-breaking-black-fridayand.html>
BREAKING: NBC Grants At Least Four GOP Candidates Equal Time Following
Donald Trump’s “Saturday Night Live Hosting” Gig, VP Tells Arizona’s
Politics
<http://arizonaspolitics.blogspot.com/2015/11/breaking-nbc-grants-at-least-four-gop.html>
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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Joe Mathews: Make government work for you with Rent-A-Pol”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77764>
Posted onNovember 23, 2015 1:56 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77764>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Joe Mathews
<http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article46058840.html>with
a modest proposal.
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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
ABA Journal Names Election Law Blog to Its Blawg 100 Hall of Fame
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77762>
Posted onNovember 23, 2015 1:54 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77762>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Here
<http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/the_9th_annual_blawg_100>is
the announcement and here is the fullBlawg Hall of Fame
<http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/2013_blawg_100_hall_of_fame>. The
Journal writes:
Election Law Blog
<http://www.abajournal.com/blawg/election-law/>
*HALL OF FAME:*Brief and exceedingly timely posts by law professor
Rick Hasen of the University of California at Irvine provide
exhaustive coverage of the election law issues of the day. This is a
good one to bookmark as an election year approaches.
Thanks for the honor and recognition!
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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“CREW Files Criminal Complaint Against Rubio Finance Chair, DC Power
Players” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77760>
Posted onNovember 23, 2015 10:22 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=77760>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release:
<http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/entry/crew-files-criminal-complaint-against-rubio-finance-chair-dc-power-players>
Key associates of the notorious dark money group the Commission on
Hope, Growth and Opportunity (CHGO) may have violated federal law by
making false statements to the government, obstructing an
investigation and pocketing more than $1 million originally meant
for broadcasting television ads, Citizens for Responsibility and
Ethics in Washington (CREW) alleged today in a complaint to the
United States Attorney’s Office.
During an FEC investigation sparked by CREW’s complaint that CHGO
violated the law by failing to register as a political committee or
report the millions of dollars it spent on television ads in 2010,
the organization’s key players downplayed their involvement. A
lawyer for Wayne Berman, now the national finance chairman for Sen.
Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, told the FEC’s investigators
that Berman “only offered informal and infrequent fundraising advice
strictly on a volunteer basis” and did no consulting work for CHGO.
Former RNC executive director and current senior political
strategist for the US Chamber of Commerce Scott Reed told the
investigators “that he could not recall being involved in the
formation of CHGO and could not recall having any contact with
anyone involved with CHGO after its formation.”
CHGO’s General Counsel William Canfield, now General Counsel for the
Carly for America super PAC, declared to the IRS under the penalty
of perjury that CHGO spent no money related to fundraising that
year, and told the FEC “that his role at CHGO was limited to legal
compliance.” However, others involved in CHGO, including Michael
Mihalke, the principal at the vendor that produced CHGO’s ads,
painted a very different picture of Reed, Canfield and Berman’s
level of involvement in the enterprise. Strikingly, Mihalke told
investigators that under orders from Reed, $1.1 million dollars that
had been paid to Mihalke’s group but that had not been spent was to
be split between Berman, Reed and Mihalke and classified as a
“fundraising commission.”
“There is no reasonable explanation for how people who claim to have
such limited involvement with an organization that had no
fundraising expenses could be paid more than $1 million for
fundraising work,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said. “It
appears that these operatives deliberately misled the government
about their role in CHGO to throw investigators off the trail of the
organization’s violations of campaign finance law. If they were
telling the truth about their roles to the FEC, how did they end up
with all that money?”
Despite misleading testimony and missing documents, the FEC’s
investigators nonetheless found that far more than half CHGO’s
spending—as much as 85%—was on campaign activity and that it should
have reported millions of dollars in political spending. But the
three Republican FEC commissioners still said nothing could be done
because the statute of limitations had run out and CHGO had gone out
of business during the FEC’s lengthy investigation, preventing
anyone from being held accountable for CHGO’s legal violations.
Today CREW also filed a lawsuit against the FEC to force them to
reopen and reexamine the case.
“It is inexcusable that no one has been punished for what even the
FEC’s investigators believe to be a clear violation of the law,”
Bookbinder said. “Laws only work if they are enforced; we are asking
the court to remind the FEC it must do its job.”
Read the criminal complaint here
<http://crew.3cdn.net/b12e549ab3d07e812e_0jwm646nl.pdf>.
Read the full text of the lawsuit here
<http://www.citizensforethics.org/page/-/Complaint.pdf>.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,chicanery
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>,federal election commission
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>
--
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
hhttp://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org
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