The Populist Daily blog has something to say to all Americans:

If you do not follow up on this or if you do not act against ALEC by showing your local representative that this kind of behavior will lose your vote, then you, and you alone, are responsible for everything…potential loss of state government assets, public education, higher prices and perhaps even much, much higher taxes and costs for water, sewer, electricity and many other government services.

Read the long and exceptionally thorough blog post that precedes this dire warning: ALEC and the Corporate Takeover of America

For a refresher on ALEC, check out our main blog page and Common Cause website.

Are we getting closer to full disclosure? Perhaps.

On Monday, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion to stay a lower court ruling requiring comprehensive disclosure of “electioneering communications.” In non-lawyer language, that means that nonprofit groups like the Chamber of Commerce, Crossroads GPS and Priorities USA that want to run political ads right before an election will have to disclose their donors.

The law closes a loophole that, combined with the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, led the percentage of undisclosed independent campaign spending to jump from 1 percent in 2006 to 43.8 percent in 2010, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Secret money has been a huge factor in the 2012 cycle already, and promises to be a defining element of the general election. GOP political guru Karl Rove said he intends for his non-disclosing group Crossroads GPS, along with its disclosing sister group, to spend $300 million to elect Republicans. …

Noting the requirement for non-disclosure established in the Citizens United Supreme Court decision — a decision that, even while throwing out decades of campaign finance restrictions, sustained disclosure requirements — the court wrote: “Intervenors provided no evidence that their contributors ‘would face threats, harassment, or reprisals if their names were disclosed,’… and thus they fail to demonstrate how the disclosure requirements ‘prevent [them] from speaking.’”

The court also noted that: “In any event, they are free to create a separate ‘electioneering communications’ bank account funded by U.S. citizens or permanent residents if they wish to protect the anonymity of those who contribute for a purpose other than funding ‘electioneering communications’.”

Read the full article “Campaign Finance Disclosure Decision Means Rove, Others Could Suddenly Have To Disclose Donors,” Dan Froomkin and Paul Blumenthal, The Huffington Post, 5/15/12 »

According to Trevor Potter, President of the Campaign Legal Center, “This is a huge victory for voters, for disclosure, and for democracy because Americans deserve to know who is trying to buy results in our  elections. This decision is an important step towards fulfilling the Supreme Court’s promise in Citizens United that all spending in our elections will be fully disclosed — disclosure that has been frustrated until now by the FEC.”

236 years ago,  Rhode Island became the first colony to declare independence from the throne, on May 4, 1776, and seek democratic self-government.  Today, Rhode Island became the fourth state to declare independence from the vast political spending that is corrupting that democracy.  Just a few minutes ago, the Rhode Island House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (59-9) to pass S 2656, which asks Congress to send to the states a constitutional amendment to allow for regulation of independent political spending.

The Rhode Island resolution reads, in part, “Whereas, in a democracy the assurance of a fair and uncorrupted elected process is of the upmost importance, and the Rhode Island General Assemblybelievesthatit is a legitimate and vital role ofgovernmentto regulate independent political expenditures. . . “  With this resolution, Rhode Island has stood up to the idea that so-called “independent” political spending does not corrupt our democracy.

Unlike the 1770s, we didn’t need to burn a ship to get people excited about this resolution.  Rather, it just took actual citizens (as opposed to phony organizations like Citizens United) to speak up and attempt to throw off the yoke of this corrupting influence.  It’s no coincidence that this is happening at the same time Rhode Island is beginning to see it’s first outside spending in one ofitscongressional races.

Two centuries ago Rhode Island led the way.  It’s time again for the rest to follow.

The AG complaint is alleges that ALEC violated Minnesota charity law because the group operates as a corporate lobby group masquerading as a public charity. Unfortunately it appears that Minnesotan taxpayers are being forced to subsidize ALEC’s lobbying efforts.

ALEC is registered in Minnesota with the Attorney General’s office as a charitable organization, and at the federal level has tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  The complaint alleges that ALEC violated Minn. Stat. §§ 309.55 subdivision 5 by misrepresenting the purpose of ALEC in forms submitted to the Minnesota Attorney General.

Read the complaint to the Attorney General: http://www.scribd.com/doc/93591786/Ag-Ltr-Final

Read the complaint to the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board: http://www.scribd.com/doc/93591674/ALEC-Complaint-FINAL

In addition to the Attorney General complain, Common Cause Minnesota filed a complaint with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board against ALEC for failing to register as a lobbyist in Minnesota. The complaint presents evidence of ALEC’s lobbying activities in Minnesota and uncovers four emails that ALEC sent Minnesota legislators clearly advocating for support of ALEC drafted legislation.

Much of this evidence is based on an IRS complaint that Common Cause filed under the Whistleblower Tax Act, seeking an investigation into ALEC’s lobbying activities, the collection of unpaid taxes, and assessment of appropriate penalties.  Based on more than 4,000 pages of ALEC documents, the complaint alleges violation of the group’s federal tax-exempt status, massive underreporting of its lobbying activities and improper tax deductions for ALEC’s corporate funders.  The complaint was filed on Common Cause’s behalf by the prominent whistleblower law firm of Phillips & Cohen LLP.

ALEC was formed as a 501(c)(3) organization, which means that it is tax-exempt and that donations to it are tax deductible.  The law limits lobbying by groups with that designation, specifying that “no substantial part” of their activity can be devoted to influencing legislation.  ALEC has declared under oath in several tax returns that it does no lobbying.  Evidence in the Common Cause filing shreds that claim; it includes several thousand pages of ALEC records, detailing extensive efforts to influence a wide range of state legislation.

You can read the full IRS complaint here: www.CommonCause.org/IRSWhistleblower

Ag Ltr Final

ALEC Complaint FINAL

I spent 12 of the most interesting years of my life in Congress and I grew to love the place. I was fortunate to work with people of good will and good ideas in both political parties; service was particularly satisfying when we were able to cross Washington’s partisan divide to help move the country forward.

Sadly, those moments are rare these days. Ideological purists in both parties appear to have taken control of Congress and of the national dialogue. Voices of moderation and conciliation are being drowned out on the airwaves and inside the Capitol; critical problems are going unaddressed.

Things are especially bad in the Senate. Both parties have figured out that the minority, currently the Republicans, can use the filibuster rule to pretty much shut the place down.

Here’s how the obstructionists work. To begin debate on a bill, senators must first adopt a “motion to proceed.” But debate on that motion, as on most everything else that comes before the Senate, is unlimited unless at least 60 senators vote to end it. That means a minority of as few as 41 can block any action simply by refusing to permit a vote on the motion to proceed.

Thus the filibuster does not extend debate, which is its supposed purpose. Instead, it stops debate.

» Want to help restore order to the Senate? Sign our petition to show that Americans are fed up with the filibuster.

In recent years, filibusters have prevented senators from acting on presidential nominations for judgeships and other offices, as well as bills to hold down interest rates on student loans, force the rich to pay their fair share in income taxes, and end tax subsidies to oil companies. Rather than debating bills and exchanging ideas on the floor, in view of the public and press, senators are pushed by the filibuster into back room deal-making sessions to get a vote on even the most routine legislation .

When the 111th Congress opened last year, the filibuster rule even denied my friend Sen. Tom Udall a chance to make the case for filibuster reform to his colleagues; the minority used the filibuster rule to block discussion on Udall’s proposal to change the rule.

Simply put, that’s unacceptable. It’s an affront to our democracy and not the way the Senate was supposed to work. And it has real consequences for real people.

That’s why Common Cause is filing suit today to stop it. [Download and read our legal complaint as a PDF.]

Our lawsuit argues that the Constitution sets out super-majority requirements only in special cases, to override a presidential veto or ratify a treaty, for example. It does not permit the Senate to require more than a simple majority just to begin debate; and the Supreme Court already has said that a legislative body’s rules cannot conflict with the Constitution.

Congressional plaintiffs in our suit include Reps. John Lewis, D-GA, Michael Michaud, D-ME, Hank Johnson, D-GA, and Keith Ellison, D-MN.

Our other plaintiffs are three young people who recently put themselves through college, graduating with honors, after being brought toAmericaby immigrant parents. They are eager to assume the rights and responsibilities of adulthood and of U.S.citizenship; one even wants to join the brave Americans who daily put their lives on the line in the Marine Corps.

But their path ahead has been blocked by the Senate’s refusal to debate and vote on a bill, the DREAM Act, that has passed the House and is supported by a majority of senators.

The filibuster also is denying justice to tens of thousands of Americans. Twelve of President Obama’s nominees for vacant federal judgeships, all with bipartisan support and nominated in states where the backlog of pending cases is so large that court administrators have declared a “judicial emergency,” are being kept off the Senate floor by filibustering senators.

We had hoped that an agreement worked out by Sens. Reid and McConnell, the Senate Democratic and Republican leaders, at the beginning of this Congress in January 2011 would go a long way toward solving the filibuster problem. The Reid/McConnell arrangement has had little effect however, and the Senate remains too often hamstrung.

Open and at times extended debates are a Senate tradition worth preserving. There is no basis for the claims, made by some filibuster defenders,  that reform of the filibuster rule would permit the majority in the Senate to run roughshod over the minority. In today’s Senate, it’s the few who are running roughshod over the American people. If the Senate won’t address the problem, the courts must.

» Support this cause? Please LIKE the Fix the Filibuster page on Facebook

The Twitterverse is keeping an eye on ALEC. Here’s what they’re saying–check out some of these great links:

• EdVeracity The problem isn’t big govt, the problem is BOUGHT govt. #GOP#GOPfail#ALEC#citizens united @SpeakerBoehner
• CSGV Great column on how radical #Ohio legislators have gotten in their efforts to do the bidding of the #NRA & #ALEC. http://t.co/fkbfozwN#OH
• Monkeyofdarknes: Shocking New Oil Propaganda Plan to Fool Americans! http://t.co/9kxZCPc1#ALEC@democracynow@joerogan@PiratePartyUK@RT_America
• IAFF526Bartley RT @ZaidJilani: ICYMI: Charter schools are funneling your taxpayer cash to #ALEC: http://t.co/rEgzqWWZ
• Forfairfare RT @mmfa: ALEC’s influence affects all of us. Spread the word: #ALEC is targeting laws that hold corporations accountable http://t.co/wgqeVwnC
• SeedBomz4Change#OccupyCharlotte & friends protest the American Legislative Exchange Councils Summit http://t.co/RTVIwA30#ALEC#OWS
• Dawn9476: These Exon-Mobil commericals R really disgusting when u know that they r apart of #ALEC which undermines teaching & investing in schools #p2
• berthoudrecordr Currently Reading ::’ALEC and the United States of Oligarchy’ #ALEC#alec#BigOil#energy#pollution @ http://t.co/etZfae5p
• cwpontwit Progressive Information Project Updates: #ALEC Exposed & Online Radio/Video | Crooks and Liars http://t.co/GbYjTKcR
• Supertascha: #ALEC Act Would Give Legislatures Power Over AGs http://t.co/d87MBV6X Trying to limit AGs ability to go after companies that rip ppl off,etc

Over the weekend, ALEC’s members–corporations and legislators–got together in Charlotte for one of their annual strategy sessions. Common Cause published information on the agendas for various task force meetings. After weeks of exposing ALEC’s connections to questionable state laws and seeing member corporations flee the group’s increasingly public profile, these behind-closed-doors meetings got the attention of the press.

NPR’s Peter Overby reported on the secrecy–”police have been outside the hotel all day watching for an anti-ALEC demonstration, which actually hasn’t amounted to much. And inside the hotel, all of ALEC’s activities are closed to the public and the press. And the staff has been pushing reporters out of the entire area around the meeting rooms.” Overby also reported that ALEC is trying to separate itself from accusations that it makes legislation, pointing instead to the required role of legislators in actually making legislation.

ALEC’s treasurer Georgia State Senator Chip Rogers told Overby:

“Ideas can come from anywhere, anybody at any time. But the legislative process in the 50 individual states takes care of that process. And nothing can happen until a legislator takes an idea and introduces it.”

This quote doesn’t do much to separate ALEC from the legislation its members have written, but it does make one thing very clear: ALEC would be pointless and useless without the ongoing assistance it receives from state legislators. 

So: are your legislators promoting ALEC’s agenda? 

Sen. Patrick Leahy’s office pledged a hearing on Amend 2012-type resolutions for a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United:

Durbin-Chaired Constitution Subcommittee To Hold Hearing In July

WASHINGTON (May 10, 2012) – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced today that the Constitution Subcommittee will hold a hearing to examine pending constitutional proposals to remedy the Supreme Court’s 2010Citizens United decision.  Leahy has asked Subcommittee Chairman Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) to hold the hearing, which is scheduled for July 17.

“The devastating effects of the Court’s divisive decision in Citizens United are already being felt in states and communities across the country,” said Leahy.  “Since the decision was handed down, Democrats in Congress have been working to protect the voices of millions of American voters.  Regrettably, we have not seen the bipartisan cooperation needed in Congress to move forward with even debating these proposals.  This hearing will explore and evaluate a number of constitutional amendment proposals that have been introduced.  I thank Senator Durbin for his chairing the hearing.”

A number of constitutional amendments to address the Supreme Court’s decision have been introduced in the United States Senate.  Constitutional amendments are traditionally first considered by the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee panel dedicated to constitutional matters.

Both Leahy and Durbin are cosponsors of legislation twice proposed in the Senate to strengthen the campaign finance laws gutted by Citizens United.  The DISCLOSE Act would ensure that individual Americans, not corporate entities or other organizations, are still the primary players in elections.  Senate Republicans in the past have filibustered efforts to even debate the bill.

“Amending the Constitution is a step that should not be taken lightly, and the process is laborious and lengthy,” said Leahy.  “Vermont voters are on the forefront of this movement, and more than 60 towns across the state have approved resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment.  I would support an appropriate constitutional remedy to reverse the Citizens United decision.  But voters cannot wait years, or decades, for a constitutional remedy to counter the Citizens United decision.  That is why I am also pressing for legislative and non-legislative remedies to reverse the impact of this decision.”

Another bill pending in the Senate, introduced by Durbin and cosponsored by Leahy, to address the Citizens United decision is the Fair Elections Now Act, which would create a voluntary system that gives congressional candidates the option to stop raising huge sums of money, giving them more time to work on the people’s business. The Fair Elections Now Act will allow qualified, legitimate candidates receive grants, matching funds, and television vouchers to run competitive campaigns based on small dollar donors, not special interest money from lobbyists and corporations.

Leahy chaired the first congressional hearing on the Citizens United decision in the weeks following the Court’s opinion.  In addition to sponsoring legislative fixes, he has also joined with other Senators to urge administrative agencies like the Federal Election Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission to use their existing authorities to issue regulations to limit the effects of Citizens United.

# # # # #

Sunday news shows, guests, topics, as scheduled. Updated as information becomes available.

ABC’s “This Week” (scroll for map to find it in your area)

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN); roundtable with Republican strategist Mary Matalin, Current TV host and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D-NY), Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen, Faith and Freedom Coalition founder and chairman Ralph Reed, POLITICO’s Maggie Haberman

NBC’s “Meet the Press” (find it in your area)

JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon; Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin; RNC Chairman Reince Priebus; roundtable with Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), American Conservative Union chairman Al Cardenas, Washington Post columnists Kathleen Parker and Jonathan Capehart and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews

CBS’ “Face the Nation” (find it in your area)

Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA) and former U.S. Solicitor General and California Prop. 8 attorney Ted Olsen; roundtable with singer and gay rights activist Clay Aiken, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, Freedom to Marry founder and president Evan Wolfson and No Labels cofounder and Newsweek contributor Mark McKinnon; Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI); Mother’s Day roundtable on Women Voters with Romney campaign adviser and author Bay Buchanan (“Bay and her Boys”), former Obama White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, the Washington Post’s Melinda Henneberger and CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell

CNN’s “State of the Union” (9 a.m. and NOON ET)

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and NRSC Chairman Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX); Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Rep. Pete King (R-NY); Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO); Campaign for Working Families chairman and American Values president Gary Bauer and Family Research Council president Tony Perkins

“Fox News Sunday” (find it in your area)

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); roundtable with Fox News’ Brit Hume, the Christian Science Monitor’s Liz Marlantes, the Wall Street Journal’s Paul Gigot and Fox News’ Juan Williams

CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS Live” (10 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET)

Roundtable on developments in Europe with Newsweek / Daily Beast columnist David Frum, Labour Party’s Rt. Hon. Lord Peter Mandelson, the New York Times’ Elaine Sciolino and Die Zeit’s (Germany) Josef Joffe; former World Bank president Robert Zoellick; BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink

CNN’s “Reliable Sources”  (11 a.m. ET)

Roundtable with the Washington Post’s Nia-Malika Henderson, Daily-Download.com’s Lauren Ashburn and former PBS Newshour correspondent Terence Smith; AmericaBlog.com’s John Aravosis and the Daily Caller’s Matt Lewis; the New York Times’ Mark Mazzetti; former The Daily Show producer Mike Rubens

CSPAN’s “Newsmakers” (10 a.m. ET)

Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), a member of the Appropriations & Energy Committee discusses the work of the House/Senate Transportation Conference Committee which met the week. He talks about portions of the Surface Transportation Bill that deal with energy, including the Keystone Pipeline, U.S. energy development and spending issues.

Our guest reporters are Meredith Shiner of Roll Call and Elana Scho of Environment & Energy Daily.

CSPAN’s Q & A (8 p.m. ET)

Co-authors Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy discuss their newly released historical narrative “The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity.” They describe the history of private and public relationships among modern American presidents dating back to Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover. Duffy describes a townhouse, purchased during the Nixon administration, located across the street from the White House. The townhouse is used as an informal residence and meeting place for former presidents. The co-authors recount instances of back channel communications between presidents, often from different political parties. Michael Duffy suggests the book offers an insight into how the presidents relate to each other, how they got along, how they fought, how they cooperated, and sometimes how they stabbed each other in the back. We learn how Gibbs and Duffy divided their research and writing duties. In addition, the authors discuss their early careers in journalism as well as influential teachers in their lives.

NBC’s “The Chris Matthews Show”

Roundtable with Newsweek / Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan, the Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman, CNN’s Gloria Borger and the Washington Post’s Nia-Malika Henderson

MSNBC’s “Up with Chris Hayes” (8 a.m. ET) 

Roundtable with The Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler and image activist and writer and former fashion, beauty and culture executive editor for Essence Magazine Michaela Angela Davis

MSNBC’s “Melissa Harris-Perry” (10 a.m. ET, live on Saturday & Sunday) 

Roundtable with Feministing.com’s Chloe Angyal, Newsweek / Daily Beast’s Michael Tomasky, author Ronald Scott (“Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics”), New York Times contributor and author Janny Scott (“A Singular Woman”), the University of Pennsylvania’s Anthea Butler and Education Inside Out Coalition co-founder Rev. Vivian Nixon

PBS’s “To the Contrary” (find it in your area)

Romney campaign adviser and author Bay Buchanan (“Bay and her Boys”); roundtable with former Judge and federal prosecutor Debra Carnahan, former EEOC Chair Cari Dominguez, Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus and Voto Latino executive director Maria Teresa Kumar

PBS’s “Washington Week” (8 a.m. ET)

NBC’s Pete Williams, Reuters’ Joan Biskupic, New York Times‘ Jeff Zeleny and Bloomberg’s Julianna Goldman will discuss the Supreme Court hearings on the Affordable Care Act; the GOP presidential race; President Obama’s trip to South Korea to discuss nuclear security with the leaders of Russia, China, Turkey and Pakistan.

Bloomberg TV‘s “Political Capital” (6 a.m., 8 a.m, NOON, 6 p.m. ET)

 List of topics and guests not available

SiriusXM’s “Polioptics”  (SAT and SUN, 6 a.m., NOON, 6 p.m. ET)

Michael Feldman and Chip Smith of The Glover Park Group recall the tick-tock of the historic Concession Retraction of Nov. 7, 2000. Ben LaBolt, Obama 2012 press secretary, compares the zeitgeist of the 2008 ‘Change We Can Believe In’ campaign to the reelection’s ‘Forward.’ Arnette Heintz, former Secret Service Agent and security advisor to the City of Chicago, previews the plans for the upcoming NATO Summit in the Windy City. On SiriusXM’s P.O.T.U.S. Ch. 124; also available for download on iTunes and at http://www.polioptics.com

TV One’s “Washington Watch with Roland Martin” (11 a.m. ET)

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force deputy executive director Rev. Darlene Nipper; Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church (Beltsville, MD); roundtable on Black wealth and rebuilding the African American middle class with Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary, Moneywise host Kelvin Boston and financial expert Jennifer Mathews; NAACP senior vice president for campaigns Marvin Randolph and National Coalition on Black Civic Participation president Melanie Campbell; journalist / commentator panel with MSNBC political analyst Karen Finney, Politico’s Joe Williams, syndicated radio and TV host Armstrong Williams and Melanie Campbell (listed above)

Univision’s “Al Punto” (10 a.m. ET)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV); Focus on the Family “Citizen Link” director of international affairs Yuri Mantilla and Latino Equality Alliance board member Roland Palencia; Young Democrats of America Hispanic Caucus chairman Phillip Arroyo and Young Republican Federation of America member Fernando Granthon; roundtable with author and La Opinión Pilar Marrero (“Waking up from the American Dream”), columnist and Journalism professor Miguel Perez and Noticias Univision’s María Antonieta Collins

 

On Friday, Common Cause, along with Public Citizen, People For the American Way and others, called on Connecticut Gov. Dannell Malloy to sign H.B. 5556, “Changes to Campaign Finance Laws and other Election Laws,” which just passed by the General Assembly. The bill would require public disclosure of major corporate and individual donors to Super PACs and other independent groups, bringing increased transparency and accountability to Connecticut’s elections.

Read a fact sheet on H.B. 5556 »

The bill would strengthen existing “Stand By Your Ad” provisions, which require political ads to disclose the five top contributors. Additionally, individuals and corporations would no longer be able to use intermediaries to shield campaign contributions from public view.

Since Citizens United opened the floodgates to massive amounts of undisclosed, unaccountable political spending, Connecticut has been on the forefront of the effort to limit the outsized influence that corporations and special interests have on our democracy. By signing H.B. 5556 into law, Gov. Malloy can help take an important step toward fairer elections.

This bill would protect candidates from anonymous attacks and corrupting ads. No longer would wealthy special interests be able to take advantage of the system by using shadowy front groups to evade Connecticut law and hijack our democratic system.

Connecticut needs H.B. 5556 to take effect and strengthen disclosure laws before the 2012 elections. Secretive political spending has already had a major impact on Connecticut’s citizens.

Send an email to Gov. Malloy asking him to protect the integrity of Connecticut’s elections »

Read a letter from DEMOS to Gov. Malloy