Campaign Finance
Politics Is Big Business
Reblogged from Street Justice: For some reason, we continue to expect our elected representatives to make rational decisions while they “compete” with each other to earn the most campaign contributions. Take the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Caucus deciding on a trillion-dollar program as an example: ~ Contractors building the fighter have contributed $326,400 to members of […]
America Fails on Global Scale re: Political Finance Anti-Corruption
Countries around the world are struggling with the same dilemma of effectively regulating the flow of money into politics, a new report finds. Since Global Integrity started this tracking in 2004, political financing has remained the weakest-rated component of countries’ anti-corruption framework. Out of the 31 countries in the study, 29 failed (scored less than […]
Political Discord Delivered Right to Your Door
Guest post by Jeremy Peters. Originally published at http://www.commonsenseman.com/. If you’re at all politically inclined, chances are that in addition to a deluge of campaign mailers, you also receive the occasional (or not so occasional) entreaty for money from a candidate, political party or interest group. These solicitations usually focus on a recent hot-button issue […]
Another Campaign Contribution Payback
Sometimes things are not as they seem. We all understand that the Americans for Disability Act has improved accessibility for persons with disabilities over the last two decades. However, what we don’t know is that the manipulation of a detail of a good thing can be a really bad thing. Eric Holder and our Department […]
Election Campaigns Fuel Corruption in Congress
We already know that any elected official on local and national levels is required to accept money to pay for activities that will get him/her elected. But did you know that campaign contributions can legally be funneled through to directly and personally benefit the candidate? Even if the dependence on campaign contributions for election isn’t […]
Vermont Pushed Campaign to Overturn Citizens United
At least 56 cities and towns in Vermont voted nearly unanimously on super Tuesday on local resolutions challenging corporate personhood. This doesn’t change the Supreme Court’s ruling, but it is a demonstration of the average citizen exercising their political voice. Quite frankly, whether we have a pre-2010 campaign finance playing field or a post-2010 one […]
Public Financing for Elections of Judges
Because judges are soliciting money to be elected, it is reasonable to question if that money influences the court. In looking at West Virginia as an example, Massey Energy Co. spent $3 million to help elect state Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin. At the same time, Massey was appealing an $82 million verdict in a […]
