“The most ambitious legislative effort to reform the country’s financial system in nearly 80 years was just a few weeks old, and already the bill was in trouble.
“Members of the House Financial Services Committee, the bill’s first stop in the summer of 2009, were facing a barrage of complaints from hometown bankers and the industry’s army of Washington lobbyists. They wanted to block the creation of an independent regulatory agency aimed at protecting consumers from the risky financial products that had helped bring on the Great Crash of 2008.”
“What does surprise me is that there is no shame in Washington anymore and people don’t think this is a conflict,” said Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free Press.
Convinced that the right to vote for all citizens isn’t fully protected under law, U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, is planning a long-shot proposal to add a 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
“What it would do is grant for the first time in American history a constitutional right to vote,” Cooper said Wednesday after announcing the proposal at a Nashville Bar Association luncheon during a strikingly personal speech that evoked race, discrimination and equality.
“Shadow” money, “dark” money, “secret” money: whatever its name, it’s still a driving force in elections, Congressional votes, and how laws get enforced (or not). Shed some light and find out how powerful nondisclosing groups game the IRS and get away with some shady practices. Follow our “Shadow Money Trail” series here.
A former New York state senator who earlier this year pleaded guilty in a corruption scandal recorded multiple elected officials at the direction of federal prosecutors last year while she was still serving in the Legislature, according to court papers filed by federal prosecutors on Friday.
NPR: Why Lobbying Is Now Increasingly In The Shadows
From NPR:
“While ideological gridlock continues to immobilize Capitol Hill, another of Washington’s institutions is morphing behind the scenes.
“The lobbying industry is becoming more secretive — reversing a trend that dates back to the 1990s. And campaign money now looms ever larger as a critical element in the persuasion business.”
March Madness: Legislators received about $7,000 in “entertainment” gifts (most of it for tickets) in March, coinciding with NCAA conference basketball tournaments and the beginning of March Madness. Total entertainment spending this year: $17,000.
Bowling Tournament: In March, the Senate apparently had a bowling tournament sponsored by various lobbyists who foot the bill for the lanes, food, drinks, and even shirts.
Sweet Tooth: So far this year, Senator Brad Lager has received about $450 worth of jelly beans, M&Ms and soda for his office, bought by James R Moody and Associates and (somewhat ironically) Consumer Healthcare Products Association. According to vigorous research by St. Louis Public Radio, you can buy about 50 lbs worth of jelly beans for that amount of money.
These four elected officials—U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-KY.), Govs. John Kasich (R-Ohio) and Nikki Haley (R-S.C.)—all attended the billionaire Koch brothers’ summit with the country’s “leading conservative donors” in California this weekend, according to the New York Times.
More:
Those discussions unfolded over two days at the Renaissance Esmeralda, a sprawling golf resort that has previously hosted the Kochs’ twice-yearly conferences. The atmosphere was equal parts revival and situation room, participants said: Phones and electronic devices were banned from some panels, as Koch strategists detailed next year’s electoral battlegrounds and donors committed contributions to particular states or projects.
If the cherished notion of a free and self-governing America is to retain any legitimacy at all, we will have to correct the current grotesque imbalance of power between the wealthy and everybody else.
Fortunately, House Democrats are putting together legislation that would reduce the excessive power of big donors by vastly expanding the ability of ordinary voters to contribute meaningfully to candidates of their choice. It’s a public financing initiative in which voters contributing $5, $25 or $100 would see their contributions enhanced fivefold or more — turning $50 into a $300 or even $550 contribution for the grass-roots candidates of their choice. Poor and middle-class voters who have been effectively silenced by the big-money crowd would begin to have their voices heard. A similar system in New York City has worked well.
Demos fellow and former New York Times columnist Bob Herbert in this great op-ed for Politico. Small donor matching systems can help to raise the voices of everyday people in our political process.
