A funny thing happened on the way to making soft money the symbol for all that is wrong with the nation’s campaign finance system. Hard money–the stuff that is harder to amass because it is regulated by the Federal Election Campaign Act and limited in a variety of ways–has begun to look like virtuous money […]
Ellen Miller
Ellen Miller is the publisher of TomPaine.com. She is a former senior fellow at The American Prospect and the Moving Ideas Network.
A public interest advocate with over 30 years experience in Washington, D.C., Ms.Miller's career spans early work with Ralph Nader at the Center for ResponsiveLaw and the Center for Auto Safety, to positions on Capitol Hill at the HouseIntelligence Committee and the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and thefounding and direction of two nationally prominent organizations in the field ofmoney and politics The Center for Responsive Politics and Public Campaign.Before joining The Prospect, she served as president of Youth Venture, a nonprofit focused on creating a dramatic change in the role of young people in contemporary American society.
A nationally-recognized expert on America's campaign finance system, Ms. Milleris well-known as a public speaker, commentator, and writer on a range of issues. She serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations, including EarthAction, the Center for Responsive Politics, and the Family Foundation, and livesin Washington, D.C. with her husband, Richard, and their two daughters, Anne andElizabeth.
Posted inFeatures
The Hard Truth about McCain’s Soft Money Ban
Everyone jumped all over John McCain after the news broke that he had intervened with the Federal Communications Commission on behalf of a generous campaign contributor. Here’s a candidate who has made campaign finance reform the centerpiece of his campaign, and he was caught committing a blatant act of favoritism for a contributor. What could […]
Posted inFeatures
The Care and Feeding of Fat Cats
Last issue [“Labor’s Loss,” August 14, 2000], we described how, in the race for campaign dollars, business is outpacing labor by an increasingly wide margin: eight to one in 1994, 11 to one in 1996 and 1998, and 15 to one in the 2000 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The contribution […]
