Reform Groups Call on Congress to Close Gaping Disclosure Loopholes and Maintain Existing Contribution Limits
In a letter sent today, reform groups urged Senators and Representatives “to pass campaign finance disclosure legislation this year to close the gaping disclosure loopholes in the campaign finance laws. These loopholes resulted in more than $300 million in secret contributions being spent by outside groups to influence the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.” The …
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Fred Wertheimer Statement on Disclosure Bill Introduced By Senators Wyden and Murkowski
The introduction of campaign finance disclosure legislation yesterday by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is an important step forward. The bill represents a breakthrough as the first bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate to address the problem of secret money being spent by outside groups to influence federal elections. Democracy 21 commends …
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Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer: A Campaign Finance Reform Agenda for 2013
A Campaign Finance Reform Agenda for 2013 Statement by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer The Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case has had a disastrous impact on our political system. As a result of the decision, Super PACs and 501(c) nonprofit groups spent $1 billion in unlimited contributions from millionaires, billionaires, corporations, labor unions and …
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A Summary of H.R. 6448, the Empowering Citizens Act
A Summary of H.R. 6448, the Empowering Citizens Act The Empowering Citizens Act (H.R. 6448) introduced in the House on September 20, 2012 is comprehensive campaign finance reform legislation to empower citizens to play a central role in financing presidential and congressional elections by matching their small contributions with multiple public funds. The Act also …
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Democracy 21 Endorses the Empowering Citizens Act Introduced by Representatives David Price and Chris Van Hollen
Democracy 21 Endorses the Empowering Citizens Act Introduced by Representatives David Price and Chris Van Hollen Bill Empowers Citizens Making Small Contributions to Play Key Role in Financing Federal Elections, Defines Super PACs Operating as Arms of Candidates as Coordinated and Illegal Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Democracy 21 strongly endorses the comprehensive …
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Statement by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer: Republican Senators Vote to Protect Secret, Corrupting Contributions over Protecting the American People
Republican Senators Vote to Protect Secret, Corrupting Contributions over Protecting the American People Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Democracy 21 greatly appreciates the outstanding national leadership provided by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) in leading the Senate effort to pass the DISCLOSE Act. We also greatly appreciate the votes cast by each Senator who …
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Fred Wertheimer: 14 Current Republican Senators Voted for Disclosure Legislation Enacted in 2000
Democracy 21 Calls on Republican Senators to Recognize Secret Money Corrupts Democracy and to Return to Past Support for Disclosure Laws Fourteen Current Republican Senators Voted for Loophole-Closing Disclosure Legislation Enacted in 2000 Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has spent his entire career obstructing, filibustering and opposing …
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Wertheimer op-ed: Senator McConnell “Pounds the Table” in Opposing Campaign Finance Disclosure Long Upheld by Supreme Court
Senator McConnell “Pounds the Table” in Opposing Campaign Finance Disclosure Long Upheld by Supreme Court By Fred Wertheimer, Democracy 21 President There is an old saying in the legal profession that goes like this: “If you don’t have the law pound the facts, if you don’t have the facts pound the law, if you don’t …
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Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Refutes Senator McConnell’s Misguided and Meritless Attack on Campaign Finance Disclosure in Speech Today at AEI
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell today attempted to turn the world upside down in a speech he gave at AEI that attacked the very idea of campaign finance disclosure, which has been the cornerstone of campaign finance laws for many decades. Senator McConnell conveniently forgets that secret campaign money was at the heart of the …
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Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Urges Support for the DISCLOSE Act of 2012 in Senate Testimony Today
In testimony before the Senate Rules Committee this morning, Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer urged enactment of the DISCLOSE Act of 2012 and made the case for why this is essential disclosure legislation. According to the Wertheimer testimony: The legislation restores a cardinal rule of campaign finance laws: citizens are entitled to know who is …
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