Amid a burst of anger from Washington watchdogs, the Federal Election Commission’s three Republican commissioners have defended their recent decision to vote against investigating coal company Murray Energy’s alleged political coercion of salaried employees. Company executives had been accused of pressuring workers to contribute money to Murray Energy’s political action committee. But the Republican commissioners […]
Blog: CHECKS
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Clinton, Senate Democrats Plan Broad Democracy Reforms
Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s campaign is reportedly planning to roll out a sweeping platform of democracy reforms that builds on the campaign-finance overhaul she unveiled in September, say progressive advocates. Democracy advocates have been urging Clinton to more forcefully articulate her reform agenda on the campaign trail. Throughout the primary, Clinton has faced consistent […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
‘Soft Money’ Is Back, and Republicans Want to Make It Official
In their ongoing crusade to roll back campaign-finance regulations, Republican Party leaders have mounted a legal attack on the bipartisan “soft money” ban enacted in 2002. If they succeed, campaign-finance watchdogs warn, American politics will revert to the unsavory practices of the 1990s when wealthy donors, corporations, and unions directed unlimited contributions to party coffers, […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
FEC Deadlocks Over Employer Political Coercion
Last week, the Federal Election Commission deadlocked over whether to investigate allegations that coal baron Robert Murray coerced employees at his company, Murray Energy Corporation, into making campaign contributions. It’s a move that watchdogs warn will give the green light to workplace political coercion, which experts say is on the rise. The case stems from […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Emerging Wealthy White Male Donor Class: A Chicago Case Study
Riding on the coattails of the nation’s bursting wealth gap is another crisis of inequality-political inequality, campaign-finance watchdogs warn. Fueled by unprecedented levels of wealth, rich white men, in particular, have formed an elite political donor class that has gained an outsized influence over policy, reform advocates say. Meanwhile, people of color and women who […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Charles Koch Bemoans Money in Politics But Lobbies Against Reform
The latest front in the Koch brothers’ perpetual public relations campaign (which recently included a feeble admission that climate change is real) found Charles Koch sitting down with ABC News for an exclusive interview. The conversation with Jonathan Karl that aired last Sunday cast Koch in the unlikely role of benevolent billionaire. The man who […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Watchdogs Sue Over FEC Inaction
Two watchdog groups have sued the Federal Election Commission for dismissing a string of complaints they lodged alleging that large donors used limited liability corporations to shield their identities-a violation of election laws that prohibit “straw” donations. The Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 argue in their lawsuit that the agency’s dismissal of their complaints […]
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Activists Swarm Capitol for Democracy Protests
On Sunday, more than a thousand people gathered on Capitol Hill for a “Democracy Awakening” rally to demand that Congress move to protect voting rights, limit political spending, and create a public financing system for political campaigns. Activists also want the Senate to take up President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to replace the […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
New Yorkers Clamor to Vote in Primaries
Remember when Ben Carson was the frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary? Or when Bernie Sanders consistently failed to poll above 30 percent against Hillary Clinton? Or when Nate Silver assured us that Trump’s collapse was inevitable? All this described the state of the presidential race about six months ago-around the same time that voters […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Dark Money Was the Real Winner in Wisconsin
With the nation’s attention riveted by the Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz victories in Wisconsin’s presidential primary, an arguably far more important political battle came to a head as a state district judge tried to unseat Republican Governor Scott Walker’s hand-picked choice for the state Supreme Court. In a bid to shift the ideological makeup […]