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 […]
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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 inHealth and Social Policy
Oral Arguments Open in Supreme Court Challenge to Texas Law
On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the most significant reproductive rights case to reach the Supreme Court in a generation. The outcome of the case will, to put it plainly, determine whether a woman’s constitutional right to access safe and legal abortion is merely theoretical, […]
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
Is Warren the Inevitable Democratic VP Candidate?
Both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have good reason to put Senator Elizabeth Warren on the ticket-whoever wins the presidential nomination. If Sanders wins his underdog campaign, he will have denied the nomination to the most prominent and admired woman in American politics. He will be under intense pressure to name a woman as his […]
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 […]
Posted inLaw and Justice
McConnell’s Misstep — and Obama’s Backbone
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a big mistake when he declared that Republicans would not confirm any Supreme Court nominee appointed by President Obama in this election year. For starters, it makes Republican senators, several of whom are defending closely contested seats in purple states, look purely obstructionist and opportunist. The same goes for […]
