I know you've all been missing your somewhat regular dose of information on what Common Cause has been working on across the country at the local, state and national level. Here's the latest edition of the Yellow Memo (as it's known in the CC office - it has been printed on yellow paper for as long as anyone remembers). Thanks to volunteer Mary Jo Cittadino we've got the memo back up and running. In future it'll mostly be posted under her name, but I wanted to introduce it this time. Enjoy!
House Administration Committee Approve Bills
On April 2 the Committee on House Administration approved two vital measures: The Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008 (HR 5036) will help states safeguard voting machines in November's general election. The Universal Right to Vote By Mail (HR 281) will ease administrative hurdles for voters who wish to vote by absentee ballot. The bill clarifies that voters may request the right to vote by absentee ballot without needing to give an "excuse."
Common Cause has championed both measures since their introduction. In a press release, President Bob Edgar commended "those on the House Administration Committee who voted in support of these measures" and urged "the full House and Senate to follow suit to help ensure voting security and accessibility in November."
More below the fold.
Federal Election Commission (FEC) in the News
The Washington Post April 4 issue highlighted the FEC's inability to act because it currently has only two members. The stalemate over the FEC's nominating process renders it unable to uphold existing campaign laws. The stalemate is also indefinitely delaying the implementation of a new rule designed to make fundraising by lobbyists for members of Congress and presidential candidates more transparent.
Common Cause had already sent each of the three presidential candidates letters urging them to use their influence and prominence as leaders to help break the FEC deadlock. On April 9 President Bob Edgar and Chairman Jim Leach called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to explore possible solutions for the deadlock over FEC nominees. "The fact that the country does not have a functional election watchdog during the most important presidential election in a generation is a national embarrassment."
There is opposition to appointing Hans von Spaskovsky to the FEC, and Sen. Reid tried to hold up-or-down votes on each of the four nominees separately, which Sen. McConnell blocked. The stalemate is due to Republicans' wanting Hans von Spaskovsky's nomination bundled with the three other FEC nominees.
No Representation in DC
In an editorial on April 6, the Washington Post advised the U.S. Senate to take note of the eloquent arguments Maryland officials are making about the right of Americans to be represented in their government. The bill giving DC voting rights only needs three Senators to overcome a filibuster.
CC/CA: Media Reform Summit
Common Cause played a leading role in putting together the statewide Media Reform Summit recently held in Southern California. Common Cause is working toward putting these vitally important gatherings across the nation so that citizens know about the dangers of concentrating media ownership and about the immediate threat of the Sirius-XM merger before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Americans need to know that this merger could speed up the already out-of-control pace of media mergers in America and reach them with the fact that, when the FCC gave satellite licenses to XM and Sirius, it was on the specific condition that the two companies would not merge.
The March 27 Yellow Memo referenced two reports critical of the FCC and the "not so public" hearings they conduct and which help explain the necessity for conducting Media Reform Summits.
CC/FL: Public Campaign Financing in Serious Jeopardy
According to an article in the March 26 Tallahassee Democrat, Florida's 22-year tradition of public campaign financing, one of the oldest in the nation, edged closer to extinction. A powerful House panel agreed the previous day to ask voters to kill public campaign financing via measure HJR-281, which passed on a mostly party line vote and with Democrats harshly critical. Alan Hays (R-Umatilla), the bill's sponsor, campaigned on the slogan, "welfare for politicians."
Republican leaders in the Legislature watered down the system considerably in 2005 when they nearly doubled the spending limits to $20.5 million for governor and $10.2 million for Cabinet races. CCFL Executive Director Ben Wilcox was quoted in the article as agreeing that "as it stands now, the system isn't working." He also said, "When you ask people if they want welfare for politicians, of course they say no. If you ask them if they want to reduce the influence of special interest on public policy, they say yes."
CC/IL: Popular Vote for President Gains Momentum
Governor Rod Blagojevich signed legislation on April 7 that entered Illinois into a binding agreement to elect the country's president using the National Popular Vote (NPV). NPV is a reform that would create a better system for choosing a president by changing the Electoral College's current allocation system to one where states agree to cast their electoral votes for the candidate who wins the national popular one.
Maryland and New Jersey have already enacted the agreement. In the past two months, the NPV agreement passed both houses in Hawaii and the state senates of Vermont and Maine. NPV needs a total of 270 electoral votes for it to go into effect. The additional of Illinois brings the total to 46 electoral votes.
CC/TN: Ethics Opinions Find Two Lobbying Violations
CCTN Chairman Dick Williams was quoted in the March 25 edition of The Tennessean (Nashville) as welcoming both opinions, saying they are important test cases, and will help the public and potential lobbyists know what the rules are. The opinion about Internet wine sales highlights Astroturf: the practice whereby groups that appear on their faces to be grassroots-based are actually underwritten by special interests. In regard to this case, Williams also pointed out the care needed in establishing when Web sites are lobbying or just providing information.
