Yesterday an email from the League of Women Voters asked me to tell the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) to "Restore Transparency and Enforce Disclosure" of election spending that Citizens United has unleashed. Its suggested letter says the FEC has the authority to prevent special interest spending by outside groups that is not really “independent.” The League strongly advises sending your own words, but I couldn't improve on this:
The Federal Election Commission must stop the dark money polluting our elections and the so-called “independent” spending by outside groups that is poisoning our political system. The FEC has authority under existing law to require disclosure of election spending and to rigorously define “coordination” to prevent millions of dollars of special interest spending by outside groups that is not really “independent.” Do your duty and enforce the law.
Our American democracy depends on having well-informed voters, and your refusal to require disclosure is undermining our representative democracy. Voters have a right to know who is funding political campaigns – whether it is corporations, wealthy individuals or labor unions. The Supreme Court has endorsed disclosure and it is unacceptable that the FEC is failing to restore transparency to political campaigns.
I am tired of big-money special interests overwhelming our elections. Super PACs and other outside groups are raising and spending unlimited sums, which reached more than $600 million dollars in 2014. The rationale that allows this to continue is that the spending is somehow “independent.” But we know that Super PACs and others have many ways to coordinate with candidate campaigns – leading to inevitable corruption. FEC regulations need to rigorously define “coordination” to end the charade of “independent” expenditures.
Fair and clean elections, determined by the votes of American citizens, should be at the center of our democracy – not big money from secret sources. As long as dark money groups hide their funders and outside special interest groups can spend unlimited amounts behind the mask of “independent” spending, our democratic principles are at risk.
I urge you to restore transparency and enforce robust disclosure rules. http://participate.lwv.org/...
I decided a shortened version of the letter might be useful and sent this:
The FEC has authority under existing law to require disclosure of election spending and to rigorously define “coordination” to prevent millions of dollars of special interest spending by outside groups that is not really “independent.” Do your duty and enforce the law.
The Supreme Court has endorsed disclosure and it is unacceptable that the FEC is failing to restore transparency to political campaigns. Super PACs and other outside groups are raising and spending unlimited sums. The rationale that allows this to continue is that the spending is somehow “independent.” FEC regulations need to rigorously define “coordination” to end the charade of “independent” expenditures.
If you'd like to send a letter, the link is here:
http://participate.lwv.org/...
The League also sent this quiz to check what we know about the recent election:
1. How many states had voting laws that were still being challenged in court with less than a month until Election Day? One, Four, None, Nine
2. How many donors accounted for nearly a third of all SuperPAC donations, totaling $200 million, in the 2014 election? 350, 5,000, 42, 75
3. In 2014, how many state legislatures introduced new laws that would restrict access to the voting booth? 10, 29, 50, 14
4. How much money was spent in the 2014 election by outside groups (non-candidate or political party groups)? $21 million $168 million $554 million $689 million
The answers are
here.