WI Elections Board Incompetent, Staff Unmanaged

Journal Sentinel: “In fact, the audit tells a tale of a rogue agency run by its staff with little board oversight. In early 2008, the board approved a schedule providing penalties for various election law infractions. But it seems the staff just took that plan and threw it out the window, imposing capricious penalties however staffers saw fit. Between 2010 and 2013, staff didn’t sanction 655 of the 674 instances in which candidates turned in campaign finance reports late, and, of the 19 that were penalized, none were according to the schedule approved by the board.

“None of this is a surprise because as the GAB moves into its seventh year of existence, there is very little it has handled competently. After the Legislature created the board in 2007, one of its first projects was to promulgate rules regulating “”issue ads”” in Wisconsin elections. Even as the U.S. Supreme Court was pushing back attempts to regulate the timing and content of political speech, the board forged ahead to mark its own territory. And the Legislature thought it was simply putting together a board to enforce current election law, not a group of unelected officials to write entirely new ones.”

Omnibus Included $1,000 Monthly Car Perk

Opposing Views: “But one secret that was not reported until the passage of the bill was that Congress members will have the ability to spend up to $1,000 a month in taxpayer funds to lease new cars.

“The text, which appears on page 982 of the 1,603-page spending bill, reads: ‘None of the funds made available in this Act may be used by the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives to make any payments from any Members’ Representational Allowance for the leasing of a vehicle, excluding mobile district offices, in an aggregate amount that exceeds $1,000 for the vehicle in any month.'”

AZ Congressional Recount Sparks Another Round of Fundraising

National Journal (12/10): “But two House candidates in Arizona are still checking between the country’s couch cushions for a little extra cash. Thanks to an expensive recount in the country’s closest congressional race, Democratic Rep. Ron Barber and Republican opponent Martha McSally are still hitting up their old donors and getting colleagues from around the country to tap their networks one last time.

“McSally led Barber by only 161 votes after the initial tally in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, a gap so small that it triggered an automatic recount under state law. That means paying staff to stay on a bit longer and, most importantly, bringing on specialized (and pricey) lawyers to monitor the retabulation of ballots, which will be resolved by Dec. 16. So Barber and McSally have looked to local donors, party leadership, and their friends on Capitol Hill in order to find political funds at a time when no one else is really trying.”

Outside Groups Spending Millions to Collect Data on Americans

Politico (12/8): “The least-known vehicle for the Kochs is a for-profit company known as i360, started by a former adviser to John McCain’s presidential campaign after McCain lost to Barack Obama in 2008. Subsequently, it merged with a Koch-funded data nonprofit. The Koch-affiliated Freedom Partners, formed in late 2011, eventually became an investor, officials confirmed to POLITICO.

“Spending more than $50 million in cash over the past four years, i360 links voter information with consumer data purchased from credit bureaus and other vendors. Information from social networks is blended in, along with any interaction the voter may have had with affiliated campaigns and advocacy groups. Then come estimated income, recent addresses, how often a person has voted, and even the brand of car they drive. Another i360 service slices and dices information about TV viewing to help campaigns target ads more precisely and cost efficiently.
GOP campaigns can get less-expensive data through the RNC, but happily pay i360 for its superior profiles.

“Midterm clients included several of the GOP’s marquee Senate and gubernatorial victors, including Sens.-elect Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Joni Ernst of Iowa, and Gov.-elect Larry Hogan in Maryland.”

Opinion: Disclosure Needed to Protect Democracy

Buffalo News: “That issue blackened this year’s midterm elections, as “dark money” permeated political campaigns. Dark money describes donations given under condition of anonymity to nonprofit agencies for the purpose of supporting or opposing a candidate or issue. It allows donors to shield themselves from attention and also has the effect of shielding candidates from well-warranted suspicion that their support is being purchased.

“Plainly, that is the intent of many wealthy donors. Politicians say high-dollar contributors gain only access, not automatic support, but if that is true, why do they resist rules that require those donors to identify themselves? What possibly could be the harm of identifying the source of an honest donation?

“What is left – and what even conservatives have agreed upon in the past – is that disclosure is fundamental. It is, in fact, the least that can be demanded of America’s political class. If Americans can at least know who is donating to which campaigns, they can monitor their elected officials for favoritism.”

MO AG Denies Doing Favors for Contributors, Pushes Ethics & Disclosure Reforms

Ozarks First: ”

“Koster was pointed in his response to the article, and the formation of that committee in response to it. Speaking about the 5-Hour energy investigation, Koster said, “To assert that this is the type of case that Missouri should be prosecuting is just silly. Back when I was a Republican we would have considered a lawsuit of this kind to be frivolous and abusive to Missouri’s business community, but today the Speaker has convened a House investigative hearing to inquire as to why this case was never brought.”

“He challenged the legislature to lower from $5,000 to $2,500 the amount of a donation which must be reported within 48-hours, to ban of lobbyist gifts to public officials, and to have lawmakers refuse contributions from entities with bills pending in the legislature during the session and for 90 days after a session’s end.

“Koster also urged that 501(c)(4)s – nonprofit, so-called “social welfare” groups who under tax law must spend less than half of their money on politics – be required to register with the Missouri Ethics Commission 90 days before an election or be disallowed from advertising, and be required to fully disclose all contributions received in the previous four years or disclose the names of their top three donors in all advertising.”

Lobbyists Manipulate Legislators But also Provide Needed Expertise Staff Can’t

Boston Globe: “But while it’s easy to think of lobbyists as corrupt and cartoonish villains who manipulate the political system, there’s a reason they’ve become such an inescapable part of the political landscape. Lawmakers rely on their expertise. That’s true in Washington, and it’s also true in Massachusetts.”

“Political scientists call it ‘lobbying as legislative subsidy,’ and the basic idea is that lobbyists serve as a kind of ersatz legislative staff.

“Think of the breadth of issues that state legislators face, from tax policy to health care, education to the environment, elderly services to mass transit. With limited money to hire researchers, and limited time to evaluate complex and technical issues, legislators depend on outside experts to help them evaluate proposals. And that includes lobbyists, even if their expertise is tilted to reflect a specific viewpoint and serve a particular interest.

“If you’re looking for an example of how this works, consider the American Legislative Exchange Council. Though it’s often maligned for shopping staunchly conservative, ready-to-sign legislation to friendly state legislators all across the country, there’s another way to think of its activities. It also helps very conservative politicians write exactly the kinds of laws they would otherwise write themselves, if they had the staff and technical expertise.”

80-One-Year-Old Marcher Brings 50 Protesters to FL Capitol Calling for Amendment

WFSU: “Eighty-one-year-old activist Rhana Bazzini’s more than 400-mile walk from Sarasota culminated Wednesday with a rally that drew more than 50 protesters to the Capitol.

“Bazzini wants to put campaign finance reform in the U.S. Constitution. She doesn’t mind that the political journey will be mostly uphill. ;Of course it’s going to be hard, it probably won’t happen in my lifetime,’ she said.”

SuperPACs Waited for Final Week of Election to Raise, Spend Funds, Avoided Disclosure Until After

Huffington Post: “The race to replace retiring Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in his Los Angeles County district saw very little spending from outside groups — until the final weeks of the campaign, when two super PACs backing Republican candidate Elan Carr began an advertising blitz.

“One of the super PACs, American Alliance, deployed direct mail flyers questioning links between Carr’s opponent, Democratic state Sen. Ted Lieu, and the Palestinian group Hamas because Lieu had received an award from the Muslim-American advocacy group Council for American Islamic Relations, or CAIR. The super PAC ultimately spent $506,410 against Lieu, nearly a quarter of the amount the candidate raised for his campaign. Lieu’s campaign dismissed the allegations at the time as a ‘smear.’

“What was not known then was who was behind the mailers. American Alliance was created in August, but raised only $69,100 through Oct. 15, the period covered by final pre-election disclosure reports. The contributions fueling the late anti-Lieu spending blitz by America Alliance would not be known before voters went to the polls on Nov. 4.”

“Now, one month after the election, the identity of the donor to American Alliance is revealed. On Oct. 22, Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson donated $500,000 to the super PAC to fuel its Hamas attacks on Lieu. Adelson supports Israel and funds nonprofits that promote anti-Islam messages, including those linking CAIR to Hamas.

“The contribution from Adelson to American Alliance underscores the glaring disclosure hole that occurs from Oct. 16 until Election Day every two years. During this time, super PACs can be formed without ever having to disclose a single penny of where they got their money until after the election.”

First-Time Congressional Candidate on Constant Fundraising Demands

Kentucky.com: “‘If there is one message I would want to get across, it’s that it’s not glamorous,’ recounted Elisabeth Jensen, 50, a Democrat who this year unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, to represent Central Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District.

“‘I was surprised when I traveled to Washington and met with the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) and some members of Congress, and the only thing people asked me was, ‘How much money can you raise? Where are you gonna get your money?’ Jensen said.

“‘There were no questions about my positions, no questions about my experience, no questions about why do you want to do this. The only thing was — it was like a script, word for word, everyone I talked to — ‘How much money can you raise and how are you gonna do it?'”