Kansas highest court removes citizens' voting rights

https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-kansas-supreme-court-0a0b5eea5c57cf54a9597d8a6f8a300e

The conservative majority on the Kansas Supreme Court reversed a lower court's dismissal of a new state law requiring signature matching on the envelope of mail-in ballots. Dissenting judges were outraged, saying that Article 2 of the Kansas Bill of Rights has long been interpreted by the court to guarantee a citizen's right to vote.

Charlie Cooper

Supreme Court further limits the concept of corruption by public officials

https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/06/supreme-court-limits-scope-of-anti-bribery-law/

The Supreme Court by a party-line 6-3 vote decided that "a federal anti-bribery law does not make it a crime for state and local officials to accept a gratuity for acts that they have already taken." A former mayor was convicted of accepting $13,000 from a trucking company to which the city had granted a $1 million dollar contract. The conservative majority ruled that gratuities after the fact cannot be prosecuted under a corruption law, but they can be prosecuted under gift laws, if applicable. This is another in a series of rulings from the Court (including Citizens United v. FEC) which restrict criminality to quid pro quo corruption. Their definition of corruption makes it easy for corruption to be hidden and would reduce prosecutable corruption to cases where politicians act unbelievably stupidly.

Charlie Cooper

Outside spending of $25 million in NY congressional race sets record

https://theintercept.com/2024/06/26/jamaal-bowman-primary-aipac-latimer/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The%20Intercept%20Newsletter

AIPAC spent $15 million to help defeat progressive congress member Jamaal Bowman in the most expensive House primary race in U.S. history. Bowman's district had been reconfigured, and he also was involved in a couple of embarrassing incidents. Progressive especially criticized AIPAC's role for running ads that did not mention their name and did not raise any Israel-related issues and for including a large amount of Republican donors in their funding stream.

Charlie Cooper

Wealthy donors' influence far outstrips that of small donors

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/do-small-donors-cause-political-dysfunction

Despite claims from some that giving by millions of small donors increases political polarization, this analysis from the Brennan Center finds that "small donors give in patterns indistinguishable from those of other classes of donors. And while small donor giving has increased significantly in recent years, big-money spending has grown faster. The few wealthy donors who give the largest amounts have a much greater impact on American politics and prop up more than their share of extreme, norm-breaking candidates."

Charlie Cooper

Anti-trust enforcement by Biden administration

Interview with Federal Trade Commission Chair, Lina Khan:

https://prospect.org/economy/2024-06-14-lina-khan-extraction-exterminator/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=We%20need%20a%20new%20paradigm&utm_campaign=June%2024%20Issue%20%239%2006162024

Can the federal government lower inflation by enforcing the anti-trust laws? Lina Khan is spearheading a new era of enforcement in the face of extractive giant tech firms who seek the power to administer prices instead of competing.

Charlie

interview with FTC Chair Lina Khan

https://the.ink/p/lina-khan-ftc-antitrust-and-democracy?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

This dynamic young Chair of the FTC has spearheaded a revival of antitrust law in the United States. The 4-decade trend to allow mergers and industry consolidation is being reversed. In this interview she argues that freedom from economic coercion is a key aspect of democracy. "How people experience freedom in their day-to-day lives often involves their economic rela"onships and what their engagement is like in our commercial sphere."

Charlie Cooper

Harlan Crow discloses additional gifts to Justice Thomas

https://apnews.com/article/clarence-thomas-supreme-court-senate-harlan-crow-f538d244f148065de8c52fb13e2f9853

In the wake of Clarence Thomas filing a report disclosing some of the trips that ProPublica had exposed in its investigative responses, Sen. Dick Durbin, Chair of the Judiciary Committee, has announced that additional unreported trips have been uncovered by the Committee based on information provided by billionaire Harlan Crow. The Supreme Court still has no enforceable ethics code.

Charlie Coope

Challenger uses public campaign financing to defeat big-money candidate in Baltimore City Council

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-power/local-government/city-council-elections-update-26S3GALBG5AVXAT3H5EEFRAQ7M/

Costello had endorsements from Sheila Dixon, AFSCME, and Gov. Wes Moore. [CHECK on money from David Smith.]

"But Blanchard used what money he had to knock on doors and spread awareness about his unlikely challenge. With help from Reddit and other social media platforms, he defied the odds — all while winning fewer endorsements and using a campaign finance strategy that relied only on small contributions from residents and matching city money."

Sarbanes introduces new small-donor financing bill

https://sarbanes.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/sarbanes-neguse-clarke-and-pingree-reintroduce-government-people-act

More than three dozen states and localities currently have candidate financing systems that are driven by small donors. These programs consistently demonstrate their power to transform our politics. For example, qualifying local candidates in Maryland's Montgomery and Howard Counties received 186% more contributions from individuals than candidates who did not participate in the programs. [In Baltimore City XXXX YYYY defeated Eric Costello in City Council district 1. Costello had the backing of right-wing ideologue David Smith, owner of Sinclear Broadcasting and other business-friendly big donors.] In a post-Citizens United world, these programs offer an effective way to reduce the influence of wealthy special interests and encourage new and more diverse donor participation while providing opportunities for more diverse candidates.

"Big-moneyed special interests continue to stand in the way of the progress that voters overwhelmingly want on issues from climate change to reproductive rights and gun safety," said Congressman Sarbanes. "It's past time to end the reliance on wealthy donors by passing legislation that levels the playing field for voters. The Government by the People Act will provide candidates with the resources they need to run competitive campaigns without leaning on big money donors and special interests, helping return us to a government of, by and for the American people."

Specifically, the Government by the People Act would establish:

• A 'Freedom from Influence Fund' to multiply the influence of small-dollar contributions. The Fund—made possible by a new surcharge on corporate lawbreakers and tax cheats—would match contributions of $200 or less per individual, per election, provided that the receiving candidate forgoes special interest contributions and focuses on earning support from small-dollar donors.

• A 'My Voice Voucher' pilot program in three states to spur small-dollar donations to House of Representatives candidates. The pilot program would be overseen and administered by a state oversight commission and allow qualified individuals to request a $25 voucher to allocate in increments of $5 to candidates.

Analysis of Trump fundraising and legal expenses in wake of criminal conviction

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/06/trump-fundraising-off-of-conviction-after-sinking-millions-of-dollars-in-donor-funds-for-legal-costs/

Open Secrets chronicles how Trump's interconnected campaign committees have spent $184 million on legal fees since 2016, of which $81 million has been spent during the 2024 election cycle. Biden has spent about $35 since the start of the 2020 presidential cycle via his joint fundraising committee and the DNC.

"Red Curve Solutions, an accounting and compliance firm . . . that reportedly does not offer legal services, received about $8 million in "reimbursements" for legal fees from Trump's political operation through the end of April. 

"Red Curve Solutions has faced legal scrutiny for fronting legal costs for the Trump political operation. Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission claiming the arrangement 'seems designed to obscure the true recipients of a noteworthy portion of Trump's legal bills and, in doing so, seems to violate federal law.'"

Charlie Cooper

Leonard Leo's dark money network under scrutiny

https://api.neonemails.com/emails/content/2GK8mon4usjmRj0WvebmOQr5RJF_OEpFPQlcntxhCZg=

"Concord Fund pumped more than $6 million into Leo's for-profit consulting firm, CRC Advisors. The new filing comes as Leo's network faces an apparently ongoing probe into potential illegal activity stemming from the network's circular payment structure."

Charlie Cooper

Students conduct mock Article V amendments convention

https://thefulcrum.us/civic-engagement-education/asu-model-constitutional-convention

Arizona State University's Center for Constitutional Design conducted a mock amendments convention. 100 students (two from each state) debated many proposals and recommended 4 amendments to be submitted to the states for ratification.

Charlie Cooper

Bowman’s anti-AIPAC fundraising bump - POLITICO

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook-pm/2024/06/03/bowmans-anti-aipac-fundraising-bump-00161286 

Aipac targets Jamal Bowman with Republican money over his advocacy of a permanent ceasefire and justice for Palestinians. They use ads that do not mention Israel Palestine and that directly endorsed measures that the Republican donors themselves oppose like infrastructure spending.

Charlie Cooper

Right wingers seek to overturn San Francisco disclosure law

https://sfstandard.com/opinion/2024/06/05/opinion-sunlight-dark-money-court-appeal/ 

A conservative group is appealing to the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling of the 9th Circuit Court of appeals that a San Francisco disclosure law for political ads is constitutional. The law was adopted on a referendum by a vote of 77% of the electorate.. 

Charlie Cooper

How RCV might have impacted the recent Maryland primary election

https://fairvote.org/maryland-primaries-need-ranked-choice-voting/

Primary elections for vacant congressional seats (for example) yielded nominees with as little as 25% support. Ranked choice voting could have assured that nominees had support from most voters.

Charlie Cooper