More dismay from James Sample writing Croines at the FEC <http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20060105/cronies_at_the_fec.php> for Tompaine.com.
Where to begin? Let's start with the first sentence of Samples' article:
Last night, with lobbyist Jack Abramoff having entered his second guilty plea in as many days, was a moment begging for integrity in government.
Ah, Jack Abramoff, the gift that keeps on giving. What, pray tell, does Jack Abramoff entering a guilty plea have to do with FEC appointments - or even the views of FEC appointees? Well, it is a scandal, of course, and where's there's a scandal, there's an excuse for the campaign finance lobby to swing into gear.
Instead, Congress and the White House colluded to deny the American people a public confirmation process for the individuals charged with regulating federal elections. Their action was shameless and straightforward: they used the president's recess appointment power to sneak through a slate of politically cozy Federal Election Commissioners who will further weaken the already toothless FEC.
We documented two weeks ago the disingenuity of the "reform" lobby in this argument, but we do note that at least Brennan isn't caught with its pants down - unlike the Campaign Legal Center, they weren't lobbying for recess appointments to the FEC in 2002. Of course, there are a lot of assumptions, a lot of assertions, and very little enlightenment, in this short paragraph.
The indictment of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay; the metastasizing investigation into the web-spinning of lobbyist Jack Abramoff; and the revelation that Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham accepted over $2.4 million in bribes from a defense contractor all tended in favor of strengthening the FEC...
Of course, none of these events have to do with even alleged violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act. Mr. Sample may as well have written, "the mine disaster in West Virginia; Hurricane Katrina, and Texas's exciting victory over USC all tended in favor of strengthening the FEC." Then at least the humor and cynicism would be more obvious.
Further down:
few things unite Republicans and Democrats like incumbency,
>From the brief signed by the Brennan Center in McConnell v. FEC: "[D]eference... deserves particular weight in the context of campaign finance reform, an area in which Congress has a peculiar expertise. Each Member of Congress brings substantial personal experience to this issue.... etc. etc."
So let me get this straight: Congress gets great deference in passing the law, because of course they would never use it to entrench themselves as incumbents - but on the other hand, because "few things unite [Congress] like incumbency," we should be very suspicious of anyone selected for the FEC.
Further down:
As if to underscore Washington's current culture of corruption, one of the Republican appointees, Hans von Spakovsky, played a critical role in upholding DeLay's controversial Texas redistricting plan. Along with other Bush appointees at the Department of Justice, Von Spakovsky overruled the unanimous opinions of DOJ's staff attorneys who concluded that the plan violated the Voting Rights Act.
Well, there may be many arguments against a political official actually exercising the authority given to him, and it may well be that Spakovsky (and others - apparently this was not his decision alone) was wrong. But corrupt? A symptom of a "culture of corruption?" A little stretch, perhaps? Anyway, we continue further down:
Questions of federal election law are complex and important.
Indeed they are. Wouldn't it be nice to help the the public to understand them, rather than conflating them with Jack Abramoff, Duke Cunningham, Voting Rights Decisions, and the indictment of Tom DeLay.
The FEC requires qualified, committed commissioners, not cronies who place politics ahead of principle.
At least the Brennan Center has something nice to say about me, even if they won't say it. Thank you.
- Brad Smith
Professor of Law
Capital University Law School
________________________________
From: owner-election-law_gl@majordomo.lls.edu on behalf of Rick Hasen
Sent: Thu 1/5/2006 11:51 AM
To: election-law
Subject: Electionlawblog news and commentary 1/5/06
Measuring How Little We Know About Judge Alito's Views of Election Law
Yesterday the Alliance for Justice issued a very large report <http://www.supremecourtwatch.org/alitofinal.pdf> (195 pdf pages) on Judge Alito's record in anticipation of the confirmation hearings. I was struck in browsing the report on how little we know about Judge Alito and election law. Page 57 of the report (page 60 pdf) briefly mentions the controversy <http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20051130_hasen.html> over Judge Alito's 1985 remarks on the Warren Court's one person, one vote cases. Pages 86-87 discuss his vote in the only published Voting Rights Act case he participated in. In addition, Richard Winger has written <http://www.ballot-access.org/2005/1205.html#1> about the single ballot access decision written by Judge Alito (see also this letter <http://cofoe.org/letter_to_us_senate_judiciary_committee.html> from Winger to the Senate Judiciary Committee).
That's it. As I have <http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?pt=V720p%2FUC3dX5jFlV1RbK7C%3D%3D> explained <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=850544> , Justice O'Connor has been the swing vote in a large number of election law cases, and the future of campaign finance law and the Voting Rights Act could be in the hands of Judge Alito should he be confirmed. I continue to hope that these issues will get the attention of Judiciary Committee members as the hearings begin next week.
"Felon trustee-elect says he will resign"
The Riverside Press Enterprise offers this report <http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_hale04.12fa265a.html> .
"Judge deals blow to recall; Hearing to decide validity of petitions"
The fallout from Padilla v. Lever continues <http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_3372012> , with a judge temporarily blocking the Rosemead recall election from going forward on Voting Rights Act grounds. For background, see here <http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-hasen12dec12,0,17567.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions> .
"Another remap plan is offered; The details are different, but the idea still is to take redistricting out of lawmakers' hands."
The Sacramento Bee offers this report <http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/14037430p-14869320c.html> . Thanks to the Southern California Law Blog for the pointer <http://sclblog.com/2006/01/04/proposition-77-redux/> .
"Bush Names Three to FEC by Recess Appointment; Campaign Finance Reformers Dismayed"
Roll Call offers this breaking news report <http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/11672-1.html> (paid subscription required). A snippet: "Because Congress briefly convened Tuesday in a pro forma session, the commissioners appointed today will be able to serve until the end of the 2007 Congressional session. At that time they will then have to be confirmed by the full Senate and will be limited to one six-year term. Larry Noble, executive director and general counsel to the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance watchdog, expressed concern at the changes, arguing that Thomas' exit left 'no more true defenders' of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act on the panel."
Brad Smith, blogging <http://divisionoflabour.com/archives/002114.php> at Division of Labour, is dismayed by the reformers' dismay. UPDATE: More dismay from James Sample writing Croines at the FEC <http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20060105/cronies_at_the_fec.php> for Tompaine.com.
"A Free-Speech Case Creates Unusual Allies"
Judy Sarasohn offers these thoughts <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/04/AR2006010401954.html> in her Washington Post column on the WRTL case.
President Makes Recess Appointments to the FEC
See here <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060104-3.html> :
Robert D. Lenhard, of Maryland, to be a Member of the Federal Election Commission.
Steven T. Walther, of Nevada, to be a Member of the Federal Election Commission.
Hans Von Spakovsky, of Georgia, to be a Member of the Federal Election Commission.
No mention here of Commissioner Mason's expected reappointment.
UPDATE: Brad Smith explains <http://majordomo.lls.edu/cgi-bin/lwgate/ELECTION-LAW_GL/archives/election-law_gl.archive.0601/date/article-5.html> why a recess appointment of Commissioner Mason was unnecessary and could perhaps limit his tenure on the commission.