[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/15/16
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Fri Jan 15 08:00:00 PST 2016
“Tom Steyer Joins Forces With Group Pushing Hispanic Candidates”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79043>
Posted onJanuary 15, 2016 7:58 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79043>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT
<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/15/tom-steyer-joins-forces-with-group-pushing-hispanic-candidates/?ref=politics&_r=0>:
Tom Steyer, thebillionaire environmental activist
<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/07/24/today-in-politics-a-billionaires-deep-pockets-come-with-a-big-catch/>who
invested heavily in the 2014 midterm elections, is joining forces
with theLatino Victory Fund
<https://www.facebook.com/latinovictory/?fref=ts>, the
Democratic-leaning group that aims to elect Hispanics to higher
office, a shift in approach for the 2016 elections.
Mr. Steyer will become one of the new chairmen for the group, along
with Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from Texas, Antonio
Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles, and Melissa
Mark-Viverito, New York’s City Council speaker.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Can Obama Salvage His Democracy Agenda?”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79041>
Posted onJanuary 15, 2016 7:50 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79041>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Eliza <http://prospect.org/article/can-obama-salvage-his-democracy-agenda>:
Having dropped the ball on virtually every good government proposal
that he pledged to enact when he first ran for office, President
Barack Obama has now zeroed in on an unlikely new target for his
democracy agenda: redistricting reform.
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Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>
“Three former Phila. elections officials plead guilty”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79039>
Posted onJanuary 15, 2016 7:48 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79039>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Philly.com:
<http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20160114_Three_former_Philly_elections_officials_plead_guilty.html#FpU6Ioal3lRM5Rxj.99>
Three former Philadelphia elections officials pleaded guilty
Wednesday in Common Pleas Court to misdemeanor charges of violating
the state’s election code and were each sentenced to one year of
probation….According to witnesses, Trainor went into a voting booth
while her husband was inside casting a vote. Afterward, she stepped
out of the booth, spoke to Murtaugh, signed the election register
under her 23-year-old son’s name, reset the voting machine, and
returned to the voting booth. Another vote was cast while Trainor
and her husband were behind the curtain, prosecutors have said.
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Posted inchicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>,election
administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
“Bush donors await green light to jump ship”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79037>
Posted onJanuary 15, 2016 7:38 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79037>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Politico reports.
<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/jeb-bush-donors-loyalty-217802#ixzz3xJZXhMRA>
Mine <https://t.co/Q0qpulkwNT>yesterday: Money Can’t Buy You Jeb!
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Natural-born mess: What would it take to kick Ted Cruz off the
ballot?” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79035>
Posted onJanuary 15, 2016 7:37 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79035>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Derek Muller
<http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2016/01/15/natural-born-mess-what-would-it-take-to-kick-ted-cruz-off-the-ballot/>writes
for Bloomberg Opinion.
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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Disclosure and a Few Hundred Dollars of Spin”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79033>
Posted onJanuary 15, 2016 7:30 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79033>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Bauer
<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2016/01/disclosure-hundred-dollars-spin/>:
Beware the opinion on a disclosure issue that begins with the fabled
Brandeis observation that “sunlight is said to be the best
disinfectant.” It is meant to make all that follows relatively
simple. Brandeis is powerful authority, and he was not just claiming
the insight for his own, but instead assigned it universal standing:
disclosure “is said” to have this cleansing effect, and it is the
“best” of effects.
The Fifth Circuit propelled itself down this path in a case,/Justice
v. Hosemann/, thatthe Supreme Court is being asked
<http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Justice-v-Hosemann-cert-pet..pdf>to
take up. 771 F.3d 285 (2014). The question is whether individuals
coming together to influence a ballot initiative, but spending
little more than $200, can be compelled to register and report as a
political committee. Mississippi law includes this requirement and,
finding that the plaintiffs had standing to bring a facial
challenge, the Fifth Circuit reversed the lower court and upheld the
law as a constitutional measure to serve the voters’ “informational
interest.”
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“Did the Anne Arundel School Board Nominating Commission violate
election law?” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79031>
Posted onJanuary 15, 2016 7:28 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79031>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
JH Snider
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/all-opinions-are-local/wp/2016/01/14/did-the-anne-arundel-school-board-nominating-commission-violate-election-law/>writes
for WaPo opinion.
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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Invisible Justices: Supreme Court Transparency in the Age of Social
Media” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79029>
Posted onJanuary 14, 2016 3:56 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79029>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Looks like afabulous program
<http://law.gsu.edu/us-supreme-court-transparency/> andlist of speakers
<http://law.gsu.edu/2016-law-review-symposium-agenda/>for this Feb. 11
program at Ga. State.
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Posted inSupreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“The Ted Cruz Goldman Sachs Loan, Explained”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79027>
Posted onJanuary 14, 2016 3:27 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79027>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Peter Overby
explainer<http://www.npr.org/2016/01/14/463093708/the-ted-cruz-goldman-sachs-loan-explained>for
NPR.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,federal
election commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>
Federal Court Denies Preliminary Injunction to Stop Va Loyalty Oath
That Trump Opposes <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79024>
Posted onJanuary 14, 2016 3:17 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79024>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Richmond Post-Dispatch
<http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/article_ca74222d-6e89-5b2a-9269-081b05265b38.html>:
A federal judge in Richmond on Thursday denied a motion by
supporters of Donald Trump for a preliminary injunction to block the
so-called “statement of affiliation” in Virginia’s March 1
Republican presidential primary.
The judge’s order means that – unless the plaintiffs win at trial,
or state GOP officials reverse course – anyone who wants to vote in
the Republican primary must sign a statement that says: “My
signature below indicates that I am a Republican.”
You can read the trial court’s four page orderhere
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/va-loyalty.pdf>.
This isno <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78829>surprise
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=78786>.
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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,political
parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>,primaries
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>
Bryan Garner Writes Legal Memo on Ted Cruz Eligibility to Be
President <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79022>
Posted onJanuary 14, 2016 3:10 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79022>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Here<http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/ted-cruz-eligibility-memo/424206/>at
the Atlantic:
All in all, it seems highly likely that the Supreme Court would
today hold that the foreign-born child of a mother-citizen is
eligible for the Presidency under Article II of the Constitution.
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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Lawmakers Ask Supreme Court to Stop Virginia Redistricting Plan”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79020>
Posted onJanuary 14, 2016 2:51 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79020>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Roll Call
<http://www.rollcall.com/news/lawmakers_ask_supreme_court_to_stop_virginia_redistricting_plan-245441-1.html>:
Ten current and former Republican members of Congress asked the
Supreme Court on Wednesday to stop a new, judge-selected
redistricting plan in Virginia or risk the state having to postpone
congressional elections.
The Chief Justicerequested a
response<http://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docketfiles/15a724.htm>by
Jan. 21.
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Posted inredistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“Money can’t buy Jeb Bush the White House, but it still skews
politics” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79018>
Posted onJanuary 14, 2016 8:50 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79018>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
I have writtenthis piece<http://wapo.st/1KfwFqh>for the /Washington Post
/Sunday Outlook, probably the most important oped I’ve written on money
in Politics. It begins:
It iseasy
<http://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2015/12/16/10294606/ad-spending-polls>todismiss
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-2016-election-is-different-1451412444>asoverblown
<http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/citizens-united-2016-121739>the
concern about the outsize role of ultra-rich donors in the American
political scene. Exhibit 1: Jeb Bush.Bush’s $100 million in super
PAC fundraising
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/07/31/bush-aligned-super-pac-nets-more-than-100-million/>was
supposed to be part of a shock-and-awe campaign that would scare
away competitors and give him a smooth path to the Republican
presidential nomination. Well, it hasn’t worked out that way. Bush
has been polling toward the bottom in the Republican race despite
the war chest, and Donald Trump,who has spent little
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/12/01/donald-trump-has-only-spent-217000-on-tv-ads-thats-absolutely-amazing/>on
his campaign despite his billionaire status, has been on top.
“Hurrah for Citizens United
<http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/citizens-united-2016-121739>,”
Politico’s Jack Shafer wrote in one representative piece. He
asserted that worries about the 2010 Supreme Court ruling have been
proved wrong. “Expectations that big money would float the
best-financed candidate directly to the White House have yet to
materialize this campaign season.”
But this overly simplistic analysis misses the key role of money in
contemporary American politics. In spite of the rhetoric of some
campaign reformers, money doesn’t buy elections. Instead, it
increases the odds of electoral victory and of getting one’s way on
policies,tax breaks
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/business/economy/for-the-wealthiest-private-tax-system-saves-them-billions.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0>and
government contracts. And the presidential race is the place we are
least likely to see money’s effects. Looking to Congress and the
states, though, we can see that the era of big moneyunleashed by the
Supreme
Court<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/03/the_supreme_court_s_citizens_united_decision_has_led_to_an_explosion_of_campaign_spending_.html>is
hurtling us toward a plutocracy in which the people with the
greatest economic power can wield great political power through
campaign donations and lobbying.
It concludes:
We’re supposed to be in a post-earmark era, yet Congress’s recent
must-pass omnibus bill to fund the government was full of special
interest deals backed by big spenders. TheNew York Times reported
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/21/us/politics/hospitality-and-gambling-interests-delay-closing-of-dollar1-billion-tax-loophole.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-new>that
“as congressional leaders were hastily braiding together a tax and
spending bill of more than 2,000 pages, lobbyists swooped in to add
54 words that temporarily preserved a loophole sought by the hotel,
restaurant and gambling industries, along with billionaire Wall
Street investors, that allowed them to put real estate in trusts and
avoid taxes.” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid supported the
language, and the company of one of Reid’s top donors admitted to
being among those “involved in the discussions with congressional
staff members.”
This is how money influences American politics these days. In the
wake of/Citizens United/, donors can spend ever greater sums in ever
closer coordination with their supported candidates. Loose campaign
finance rules grease the wheels for industry lobbyists to work in
the shadows, securing big private benefits in bills the public
scarcely pays attention to. The threat of big money scares
politicians away from taking positions against the donor class.
The legacy of/Citizens United/is not about the ultra-wealthy simply
buying elections or about politicians on the take. Money can’t buy
you Jeb. Instead, we face a subtler but equally pernicious rise of a
plutocratic class capturing private benefits for personal gain.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,Plutocrats United
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=104>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
--
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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