Fred Wertheimer reviews the history of Supreme Court decisions and shows how the FEC has allowed unlimited money (including dark money) into campaigns.
Charlie Cooper
Friday, March 31, 2023
Thursday, March 30, 2023
Sheldon Whitehouse comments on Supreme Courts ethics reform
The Supreme Court has accepted the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States that somewhat tightens gift-reporting requirements on the Justices. Still, dark money problems are only eased in a minor way.
Charlie Cooper with thanks to Carol Goldstein
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Wife of Justice Thomas raised dark money
"[Ginni Thomas] has allied with numerous people and groups that have interests before the court, and she has dedicated herself to causes involving some of the most polarizing issues in the country."
She says the group was founded to engage in culture wars with the left, which she says is defeating the right on cultural issues. It is not clear whether she was paid for her work.
Charlie Cooper
Supreme Court justices to follow tighter rules on disclosing travel perks
Advocates would still like to see Congress pass binding legislation to cover a wider range of ethics concerns.
Charlie Cooper with thanks to Nancy Soreng
Friday, March 24, 2023
Very basic explanation of Moore v. Harper from NC Common Cause
The plaintiff in the Moore v. Harper Supreme Court case gives a very basic explanation of what is at stake.
Charlie cooper
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Dark money group opposes Biden tax cut on the rich
This group says it represents middle-class families who own businesses, but the Biden plan would tax only people with wealth above $100 million. The group doesn't disclose its donors, but it seems very likely that very wealthy people are using the middle-class enterprises to divert attention from the real issue.
Charlie cooper
Saturday, March 18, 2023
2019 Expose of Leonard Leo's dark money networkhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/leonard-leo-federalists-society-courts/?utm_term=.1d2008ed2d75
"Even as Leo counseled Trump on judicial picks, he and his allies were raising money for nonprofits that under IRS rules do not have to disclose their donors. Between 2014 and 2017 alone, they collected more than $250 million in such donations, sometimes known as "dark money," according to a Post analysis of the most recent tax filings available. The money was used in part to support conservative policies and judges, through advertising and through funding for groups whose executives appeared as television pundits.
"The groups in Leo's network often work in concert and are linked to Leo and one another by finances, shared board members, phone numbers, addresses, back-office support and other operational details, according to tax filings, incorporation records, other documents and interviews."
The article chronicles the growth of conservative influence in judicial nominations during the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations.
Charlie Cooper
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Controversy regarding ERIC
23 states are members of ERIC, a non-profit organization that shares voter registration among states. The Board mostly consists of state election chiefs, but now Republicans are leaving ERIC because they object to the fact that 2 seats reserved for expert members. The article presents evidence to debunk Republican worries that the expert members are biased against Republicans.
On the other hand, there have been some charges that ERIC can lead to people who have NOT moved being spuriously removed from voter rolls based on misidentification of people with similar names.
"Last year the organization helped member states identify more than 4.4 million potentially eligible but unregistered voters and 11 million voters who'd likely moved to another state. It also found what appeared to be 1 million duplicate names and nearly 570,600 deceased people still listed in voter registration records, ERIC reports."
Charlie Cooper
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Right-wing politicians and think tanks combine to weaken child labor laws
Child labor law violations have quadrupled recently. In Arkansas and other states, lawmakers have weakened child labor laws with funding and assistance from right-wing groups, including Koch-backed organizations such as Americans for Prosperity. Some of these groups are also involved in the capture of the Supreme Court as described by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse in his book, "The Scheme."
Charlie Cooper
Sunday, March 12, 2023
Georgia legislators consider accountability for local prosecutors amid controversy
Some Democrats and liberals have charged that the bill now being considered by the Republican majority in the legislature is aimed at removing prosecutor Fani Willis who is investigating Trump for possible indictment regarding his efforts to change results of the 2020 presidential election. However, the article says it more nuanced and includes concern about the white prosecutor who failed to prosecute for the murder of Ahmad Aubrey.
Charlie Cooper
Thursday, March 9, 2023
NC Supreme Court flips to Republican and takes unusual decision to rehear cases
This article comes from a party that supports the prior decision of the NC Supreme Court in Moore v. Harper (February 2022), which declared that the legislature's Congressional districting map violated a provision in the state constitution that guarantees free elections. Since then, the court composition has changed to majority Republican, and the new majority has taken the very unusual step of rehearing the case.
Charlie Cooper
Supreme Court justices cannot agree on a code of ethics
Citizens and some members of Congress are growing impatient, amid apparent ethical lapses.
Charlie Cooper
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
AZ Candidate Finchem sanctioned for groundless lawsuite
An Arizona judge has sanctioned Mark Finchem, an election denier who ran as a Republican for AZ Secretary of State. He lost by 120,000 votes, but sued to overturn the election despite lack of evidence.
Charlie Cooper
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