IRS must investigate 501c4 organizations' politics

Tempest in a Teapot?

While Common Cause strongly supports an independent and thorough review of the IRS’s actions, the hearings should also account for the agency’s failure to enforce the law against political front groups masquerading as social welfare organizations.

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image: capitol building money in politics

Evading the “hard truths” at the FEC

Having pretty much abandoned enforcement of our campaign finance laws, the three Republican members of the Federal Election Commission have plenty of time on their hands these days. So it’s no surprise that they joined forces this week on a Politico essay that seeks to justify the FEC’s dysfunction. The piece by Commissioners Donald F. [...]

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“Obama-Phones” or “Gipper-Phones” — What’s in a Name?

It’s a sad commentary on the state of our public discourse that clever misnaming of issues can totally recast what should be substantive policy discussions. The most obvious example: adding the suffix “gate” onto anything that smacks of real or alleged political wrong-doing in the wake of Richard Nixon’s Watergate is usually sufficient to muddy [...]

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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly—A Newbie’s Review

Submitted by: Corie Tanida, Project Coordinator, Common Cause Hawaii On Monday, May 13, 2013 Hawaii Public Radio and Common Cause Hawaii hosted a discussion group to review the 2013 legislative session, called The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.  It was also my first day on the job as Project Coordinator for Common Cause Hawaii. [...]

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image: every vote counts

Improving the Voting Process for Coloradans

HB1303 will give Colorado citizens greater opportunity to participate in our elections by simplifying the process while maintaining full options for registration and voting.

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Will The New FCC Chair Fight For Reform?

The President nominated Tom Wheeler to replace Julius Genachowski as the next FCC Chair yesterday.

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A Plea for A Pledge

A new report by Common Cause Massachusetts shows that limiting outside spending in last year’s U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts helped to increased electoral transparency, accountability, and fairness, and calls on the current Senate candidates Ed Markey and Gabriel Gomez to agree to limit outside spending in the current election. Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC (2010) [...]

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The Campaign Finance Bucks Stop With You, Mr. President

Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein reported this morning about a letter to President Obama that we signed with six other watchdog organizations.  Unfortunately, Mr. Klein dismisses campaign finance reform as a “quixotic cause” because the White House will “never get the votes to truly change campaign finance laws,” rendering the President’s inaction, regrettably,  as making [...]

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