Common Cause Blog

Convention for sale

In what will no doubt be a frequent topic for conversation -- at least around here -- the Rocky Mountain News covers the dozens of national corporations who will cosponsor the Democratic National Convention. The same is happening at the RNC, and in fact, 20 corporations are cosponsoring both events. Most folks, even those at the DNC, mince few words about what's at stake:

The answer is simple, said former Denver City Councilwoman Susan Barnes-Gelt: "It's always about access."

It is not a phenomenon unique to the Democrats or Denver. A slew of corporate donors have lined up for the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, and 20 of them also are sponsoring the DNC.

They include companies like 3M, Allstate, AstraZeneca, AT&T, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co., Ford, Merck, Qwest, the Service Employees International Union, US Bank, Visa and Xcel Energy.

"Welcome to the American political system," Barnes-Gelt said of the companies ponying up money on both sides of the aisle.

Chris Lopez of the Democratic National Convention Host Committee acknowledged that sponsors get "opportunities" that depend on the level of their support. Those opportunities can include tickets to events surrounding the convention and even access to the Pepsi Center itself, where the convention will be held.

The host committee does not have to file documents outlining the level of sponsorships until after the convention. But Lopez said the access goes up as the contributions do.

At least he doesn't beat around the bush -- they pay for access to the lawmakers and party elites. The interests of those sponsoring companies get a further breakdown, below.

Reid firing back

After last week's series of disappointing non-resolutions to the FEC nomination mess, Sen. Harry Reid pushed back and demanded that the White House either remove Hans von Spakovsky or allow individual votes on the slate of FEC nominees. (Roll Call subscription req'd.)

Calling all challengers!

They say that one of the best ways of dealing with high blood pressure is to get more exercise. I've been thinking about how this applies to the political sphere. Every time I hear some political figure say something stupid on TV my blood boils. Some people throw their shoes at the TV. That is a little bit of exercise. Others put up well thought out blog posts online. That is a bit better, though less aerobic. But, if you want a real workout that will make you feel a lot better, try this. Try running for office.

Connecticut's public funding of campaigns makes it much easier to get started, sort of like one of those discount offers that gyms have to try and get you in the door. This isn't to say that you won't have to work hard. You will. It remains a challenge to think out a strong persuasive message. It remains a challenge to get the necessary small donors to give you enough to qualify for public financing. It remains a challenge to get out and talk with as many voters as possible. I know. I did it. I did it before there was the public financing, so the fundraising was even more difficult.

FEC mess

After months without a functioning FEC, as we called on Senate leadership to find suitable nominees and re-constitute the important -- if often ineffectual -- commission in time for the peak of election season, this week it looked like we might have caught a break. Sen. Harry Reid's office spoke with the White House, and the White House sent six FEC nominations (three D, three R) to the Senate.

How quickly hopes can crumble.

We've recently heard that Sen. Mitch McConnell is poised to insist on a package deal -- all or none -- rather than allowing each nominee to get an up or down vote.

This is an unworkable proposal, not unexpected from McConnell, a bitter opponent to all campaign finance regulation. First, the choice of nominees reflects a remarkably partisan and subversive intention towards the FEC, in particular the selection of Hans von Spakovsky and Donald McGhan and the removal of current chairman David Mason from the list. CC Prez Bob Edgar sent this letter to the entire U.S. Senate on Wednesday. Here's part of his beef:

We continue to oppose the White House's choice of Hans von Spakovsky to the FEC and urge Senators to vote against his confirmation.

We also oppose the nomination of Donald McGhan to the FEC. McGhan served as counsel to former Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) on matters of campaign finance reform and ethics. As you know, Mr. Delay was indicted on campaign finance violations by the U.S. Attorney's office in Texas and was admonished repeatedly by the House Commission of Official Standards of Conduct. It would be difficult to find a more ill-suited candidate.

The subject of stripping Mason's name off the list brought back memories of a similar purge in Common Cause's early days, however, and is in some ways the most egregious piece of this whole maneuver.

Reform New York Day 2008

On Tuesday, April 29, almost 200 Common Cause activists and allies gathered in New York's capital for "take your ethics to work day" in order to demand more of our state government. Recent scandal (after scandal after scandal) has only reinforced the urgent need for changes to the way Albany does business.

A paper in Binghamton underscored this last week when it wrote: "If ever there was a state government in need of [reform] it's ours, which has correctly been labeled the most dysfunctional in the land. Albany is to government what Britney Spears is to motherhood." Legislators, Blair Horner of NYPIRG pointed out, "have to do something to regain the trust of the public before facing them in November."

We gathered for Reform Day 2008 to offer legislators a way to regain that trust. We provided principles of a reform agenda, endorsed by dozens of organizations throughout the state, around which they could craft meaningful reforms. The broad issues for reform include changes to the way campaigns are financed, the way the legislature operates, how legislators are held accountable to the public, and termination of the partisan gerrymandering in New York State.

Click "Read More" for more on Reform Day 2008.

Not entirely a "Do Nothing" session

It turns out a good defense does make a pretty good offense.

The Connecticut Legislature wrapped up its 2008 session early Thursday morning. Although it was generally dubbed a "Do Nothing" session, Connecticut Common Cause was able to pass one essential bill and make sure a number of other bills aimed at either turning the clock on reform didn't head to the governor's desk.

Sure, it's easier to kill a bill than push a bill, but in the crush of the final days of session it is always possible to sneak a rat into�a marginally related bill.�Connecticut Common Cause checked�every bill passed by the Legislature. While we chuckled at�"An Act Concerning Beer Cooler Accessibility," which passed both chambers unanimously, we found nothing that would�chisel�away at any hard-fought reforms.�

That said, there were a number of bills that didn't make the cut this year and a few that did. For�a short session where only supposedly essential are to be called, it was a good year.

The small donor future

I'm cross posting a piece here on small donors, which I worked with our president Bob Edgar to put together, looking at the trends in small donor giving this cycle for presidential and congressional candidates -- the two are very different -- and how that impacts our work to limit big money's role and engage more people in our political system.

Check it out below the fold.