Common Blog

In 1978, the Supreme Court decision in First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti struck down a Massachusetts state law barring corporations from spending money to influence ballot question votes. The decision set the stage for corporations to spend millions advocating for or against ballot questions across the country. The consequences of this decision and the [...]

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 [...]

We are heartbroken at the sudden loss of Bob Edgar, our leader, dear friend, and fellow advocate. Bob touched so many people in his life, and in our grief we are touched today by the outpouring of support, condolences and love from some of the thousands of people he was close to. Robert Reich, Chairman, [...]

We asked you what they’d tell President Obama to do to fix our democracy — and now we’ve shared your responses with the White House

IN HAWAII: the House Finance Committee has scheduled HB1147 HD1 — which encourages transparency for PACs and SuperPACs — for a Wednesday, February 27 hearing. This important measure would significantly improve campaign finance disclosure at the state level, and boost transparency in the post-Citizens United era. HB1147 improves reporting for noncandidate committees (PACs and SuperPACs) [...]