[EL] Federalism and "Take Back Our Republic"

Rick Hasen rhasen at law.uci.edu
Thu Jan 21 20:11:16 PST 2016


The size of the file is too big to send to the listserv.
If Richard can have it posted somewhere (it is too big to post to ELB) I 
am happy to provide the link to the listserv.


On 1/21/16 11:01 PM, Richard Painter wrote:
> Please feel free to provide the pdf on line or however you like. No 
> interest in royalties
>
> This is a small glitch
>
> States cannot bind the federal government not to tax but they can bind 
> themselves and make clear their view on federal taxation without 
> representation
>
> The U.S. constitution can bind the states but that is a moot point 
> because the proposed amendment would shut down the federal government 
> also unless each taxpayer got the 200 dollars so Congress would have 
> to allocate the money
>
> An act of Congress probably could not bind the states (interesting 
> constitutional issue) but this is also moot because congress would not 
> enact the proposed language unless it intended to allocate the money.  
> Otherwise the federal government also could not tax.
>
> So if people get serious about this idea we could discuss these 
> federalism issues further
>
> R
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thursday, January 21, 2016, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu 
> <mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>> wrote:
>
>     I did not feel comfortable sharing the pdf with the list, but I've
>     copied Richard here.
>
>     On 1/21/16 1:42 PM, Scarberry, Mark wrote:
>>
>>     Richard Painter’s great, but I wonder how his proposal squares
>>     with federalism concepts. Apparently he is suggesting that
>>     Congress can enact his proposal as an ordinary statute. He is
>>     right that it doesn’t violate the First Amendment, I think, but
>>     can Congress really force states to spend money as a condition of
>>     imposing taxes? That seems highly unlikely. Perhaps the “blurb”
>>     doesn’t accurately describe his proposal. Obviously his exact
>>     proposal couldn’t be adopted at the state level either, inasmuch
>>     as it would purport to prohibit the federal government from
>>     imposing taxes.
>>
>>     Rick, the press release that you quote indicates that a pdf of
>>     the book is attached. Do you know whether there is a way for list
>>     members to get the pdf? I don’t begrudge Richard the royalties on
>>     sale of the physical book for $19, but it doesn’t seem that his
>>     goal is to make money (even if it isn’t dark money and however he
>>     might choose to spend it).
>>
>>     Mark
>>
>>     Mark S. Scarberry
>>
>>     Professor of Law
>>
>>     Pepperdine Univ. School of Law
>>
>>     *From:*law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
>>     <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu');>
>>     [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
>>     <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu');>]
>>     *On Behalf Of *Smith, Brad
>>     *Sent:* Wednesday, January 20, 2016 2:13 PM
>>     *To:* 'Rick Hasen'; law-election at UCI.edu
>>     <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','law-election at UCI.edu');>
>>     *Subject:* Re: [EL] Take Back Our Republic???
>>
>>     /Take Back Our Republic has printed 5,000 copies in the first
>>     printing, more than 1,000 of which will be distributed in New
>>     Hampshire and Iowa in late January and early February./
>>
>>     Leading to the obvious question for a book published by a
>>     corporation: would it be permissible to prohibit this type of
>>     political advocacy, but for Citizens United?
>>
>>     /Bradley A. Smith/
>>
>>     /Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault /
>>
>>     /  Professor of Law/
>>
>>     /Capital University Law School/
>>
>>     /303 East Broad Street/
>>
>>     /Columbus, OH 43215/
>>
>>     /(614) 236-6317/
>>
>>     /bsmith at law.capital.edu
>>     <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','bsmith at law.capital.edu');>/
>>
>>     /http://www.law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.asp/
>>
>>     *From:*law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
>>     <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu');>
>>     [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
>>     <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu');>]
>>     *On Behalf Of *Rick Hasen
>>     *Sent:* Wednesday, January 20, 2016 1:35 PM
>>     *To:* law-election at UCI.edu
>>     <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','law-election at UCI.edu');>
>>     *Subject:* [EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/20/16
>>
>>
>>         [snip]
>>
>>
>>         Richard Painter with the Conservative Case for Campaign
>>         Finance Reform <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79150>
>>
>>     Posted onJanuary 20, 2016 9:47 am
>>     <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=79150>by*Rick Hasen*
>>     <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>>
>>     Can’t wait to read this.  Release:
>>
>>         */Take Back Our Republic Publishes Book by former President
>>         George W. Bush White House Aide: /*
>>
>>         */“Taxation Only with Representation:  The Conservative
>>         Conscience and Campaign Finance Reform” by Richard W. Painter/*
>>
>>         //
>>
>>         /Author Richard Painter was President George W. Bush’s chief
>>         White House ethics lawyer, and he is now a law professor at
>>         the University of Minnesota.  He wrote the book throughout
>>         2014 and 2015 with the financial support of a full year
>>         residential fellowship from Harvard University’s Safra Center
>>         for Ethics./
>>
>>         /Painter’s book discusses in detail:/
>>
>>         ·/How the current system of campaign finance undermines the
>>         system of participatory democracy envisioned by the original
>>         Tea Party and the founding fathers of our Country./
>>
>>         ·/The fact that conservative political thinkers from Edmund
>>         Burke to Barry Goldwater have warned against the corrupting
>>         influence of costly elections./
>>
>>         ·/Campaign money is driving the growth of excessive
>>         government spending and regulation and encourages the growth
>>         of inefficient and corrupt government sponsored enterprises
>>         (GSEs)./
>>
>>         ·/Campaign money is silencing the voice of social
>>         conservatives and faith-based voters on virtually every
>>         issue, ranging from protection of human life and religious
>>         freedom to school choice, drugs, pornography and gambling./
>>
>>         ·/Campaign money is increasingly likely to originate outside
>>         the United States, giving sovereign wealth funds, foreign
>>         governments and even terrorist organizations ample
>>         opportunity to influence our government and undermine our
>>         national security and independence./
>>
>>         //
>>
>>         /The principal solution Painter proposes is to allow ordinary
>>         voters to participate in funding political campaigns out of
>>         their tax dollars.   His proposed “Taxation only with
>>         Representation” amendment or statute can be enacted at the
>>         national or state level and does not run afoul of any
>>         existing first amendment rights in the Constitution.  It
>>         provides:/
>>
>>         /Neither the government of the United States nor any state or
>>         subdivision thereof shall levy an income tax, sales tax,
>>         property tax, inheritance tax or any other tax upon any
>>         natural person over 18 years of age who is a citizen of the
>>         United States or upon his or her estate unless the United
>>         States government or the state levying said taxes pays an
>>         amount totaling at least two hundred dollars within the same
>>         calendar year or within the immediately following calendar
>>         year to the campaign of one or more candidates for elected
>>         federal or state or local office chosen by such citizen for
>>         whom such citizen is also eligible to vote or running for
>>         office in the state in which the citizen resides.  A
>>         citizen’s right to designate taxpayer funded political
>>         contributions pursuant to this amendment is waived in any
>>         year in which the citizen fails to designate a recipient of
>>         such payment or dies before designating a recipient of such
>>         payment. Every five years after adoption of this amendment,
>>         Congress shall by statute or, in the event Congress shall not
>>         enact such a statute, the United States Treasury shall by
>>         regulation, adjust the taxpayer funded political contribution
>>         amount to be more or less than two hundred dollars to reflect
>>         changes in the purchasing power of the United States dollar
>>         within the preceding five years. /
>>
>>         /Painter proposes that the private sector develop innovative
>>         solutions to bring more small donors into the fray.  For
>>         example, a “Democracy Dollars” program in which retailers
>>         would, in place of making their own contributions to PACs,
>>         allow customers to give money to candidates of their choice
>>         based on customer loyalty points.  Painter urges that when
>>         the private sector tries to help citizens solve the campaign
>>         finance problem, government must not be allowed to stand in
>>         the way./
>>
>>         /Take Back Our Republic has printed 5,000 copies in the first
>>         printing, more than 1,000 of which will be distributed in New
>>         Hampshire and Iowa in late January and early February./
>>
>>         /The book can be found onAmazon.com
>>         <http://www.amazon.com/Taxation-Only-Representation-Richard-Painter/dp/1939324122/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453239273&sr=8-1&keywords=taxation+only+with+representation>or
>>         at or by contacting Take Back Our Republic at334-329-7258
>>         <tel:334-329-7258>. A complimentary PDF version is attached
>>         as well./
>>
>>         *//*
>>
>>     Share
>>     <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D79150&title=Richard%20Painter%20with%20the%20Conservative%20Case%20for%20Campaign%20Finance%20Reform&description=>
>>
>>     Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
>>
>>     [snip]
>>
>>     -- 
>>     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
>>     <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rhasen at law.uci.edu');>
>>     http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
>>     http://electionlawblog.org
>>
>>
>>     _______________________________________________
>>     Law-election mailing list
>>     Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
>>     <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu');>
>>     http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>
>     -- 
>     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
>     <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rhasen at law.uci.edu');>
>     http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
>     http://electionlawblog.org
>

-- 
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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