Three Republicans on the Federal Election Commission who have signaled their willingness to crack down on the growing use of secretive limited liability companies (LLCs) to make campaign contributions will soon be put to the test on the issue. The FEC faces multiple complaints from watchdog groups regarding the alleged use of LLCs to make […]
Blog: CHECKS
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Big Money Descends on Big Senate Races
Big money isn’t just pouring into the 2016 presidential race-which is already on pace to break several campaign spending records. The campaign-finance arms race has also driven big money into several contentious U.S. Senate races much earlier than usual. “Early money is like yeast, or so goes the saying, implying that when you raise and […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Will Disclosure Fight Doom SEC Nominees?
The question of whether the Securities and Exchange Commission should require public corporations to more publicly disclose their political spending has emerged as a growing point of contention in Senate deliberations over who should serve on the SEC. At a Senate Banking Committee hearing this week to consider two potential commissioners nominated by President Barack […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Judicial Spending Blitz in Arkansas Spurs Calls for Reform
A $1.1 million corporate spending blitz that helped defeat two candidates for the Arkansas Supreme Court has prompted the state legislature to call for reforms that would either eliminate judicial elections, ban undisclosed “dark” money in those races, or both. The two candidates in question, Supreme Court Justice Courtney Goodson and Little Rock attorney Clark […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Reform Advocates’ Elusive Goal: Fix the FEC
Campaign-finance reform advocates hold out zero hope that the current Congress will overhaul the rules, but they have nevertheless unveiled a plan that sketches out their ideal vision for tightening up federal election law enforcement. On Tuesday, Senator Tom Udall, of New Mexico, introduced a bill that would kill the Federal Election Commission and replace […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
DNC Lobbyist Money Gives Bernie More Ammo
The Democratic National Committee’s decision to roll back the ban on lobbyist contributions initially imposed by President Barack Obama captures the complicated political money struggle going on between Democratic presidential frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. On the one hand, Clinton may benefit from an influx of lobbyist money to the DNC. Sanders has done […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Business Lobby Fuels Alabama’s Minimum Wage Fight
Well-funded business groups in Alabama are spending millions to help kill a minimum wage hike enacted by the city of Birmingham, prompting outrage from labor organizers who plan a massive rally in the state capitol of Montgomery on Tuesday. The city-state clash over the minimum wage in Alabama mirrors similar fights around the country that […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Pro-Shelby Super PAC: ‘People Power’ or ‘Dark’ Money?
The Alabama Senate primary race between incumbent Republican Senator Richard Shelby and challenger Jonathan McConnell has seen an unexpected surge in outside spending-an influx that spotlights the growing role of undisclosed “dark” money in 2016, even in super PACs that supposedly must report their donors. Citizens for a Sound Government, a political nonprofit that doesn’t […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Watchdog Group Sues FEC Over Crossroads GPS
The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed suit against the Federal Election Commission, alleging that the agency violated election laws when it dismissed a CREW complaint against Crossroads GPS, a conservative political operation masterminded by GOP operative Karl Rove. The lawsuit asks the court to refute the FEC’s dismissal-which […]
Posted inCivil Rights in America
The Makings of a New Democracy-Reform Coalition?
A broad coalition of 160 civil-rights, pro-democracy, and other progressive organziations have announced plans for an ambitious Democracy Spring campaign that will culminate with a massive rally and sit-in at the capitol in April. The campaign includes a 140-mile march that is scheduled to kick off on March 2 from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., in […]