Top Money in Politics News
'This is not democracy': Republicans try to shrink power of incoming Democrats (The Guardian) Undermining democracy, and with implications for the future of campaign finance laws in Michigan.
Also see: Let’s do it! Let’s abolish the lame duck. (ThinkProgress) and Constitutional Hardball Is Back. Look Out. (Bloomberg)
Subpoenas Coming Soon In Trump Emoluments Lawsuit (National Public Radio) Moving full steam ahead. “The attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia are preparing to move forward with subpoenas for President Trump's businesses in their lawsuit alleging he is in violation of the U.S. Constitution's emoluments clause. U.S. District Court Judge Peter J. Messitte gave the order for discovery in the case to proceed to D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, who have accused Trump of illegally profiting off the presidency. The list of subpoena targets will be released on Tuesday.”
Will an 'outspent' GOP now embrace campaign finance reform? (Don't count on it) (The Los Angeles Times) Rather than fix the problem, Republicans want to complain about it instead. “You may not have noticed this, but since last month’s midterm elections the Republican party has been speaking out strongly for campaign finance reform.Well, not exactly. GOP leaders have been grousing about the unfairness of having been outspent by Democrats, especially in Congressional races, leading to the loss of 40 seats in the House of Representatives. In other words, they’re not lobbying for less money in politics, just lamenting that not all of it flowed their way.”
Running For Office Is Really Hard If You’re Not A Millionaire (HuffPost) An unfortunate no-brainer. “Many of the lawmakers walking the gilded halls of Congress are, financially, far better off than the constituents they represent. Millionaires comprise nearly 40 percent of Congress, compared to being just 4 percent of the U.S. population.”
Darker Money: Michigan Senate Passes Bill Making Dark Money Disclosure a Crime (Sludge) Michigan, Michigan. “By a vote of 25-12, the Republican-controlled Michigan Senate passed a bill on Nov. 29 that would make it a misdemeanor crime for public officials in Michigan to require nonprofit groups, including those that spend money on elections, to disclose their donors for government or public review.”
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ON POWER GRAB
RT Bernie Sanders It is disgraceful that Republicans in Wisconsin and Michigan, having lost on Nov. 6, are trying to decrease the power of incoming Democratic governors Tony Evers and Gretchen Whitmer and limit future voting. This power-grab is pathetic and must be stopped.
RT Eric Holder Citizens in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and North Carolina must make their voices heard. Don’t let our democracy be stolen. Stop these legislatures from taking these shameful actions. They will apparently do anything to keep power - including ignoring the people.
ON TRUMP
RT Norm Eisen BREAKING: the court has ordered discovery to begin in the Maryland & DC #emoluments case led by @BrianFrosh & @AGKarlRacine & cocounseled by @CREWcrew @deepakguptalaw & @CohenMilstein. Here we go!
RT Natasha Bertrand DC and Maryland attorneys general say they're moving forward with subpoenas for records in their case accusing Trump of profiting off the presidency. https://apnews.com/96a295d90acf449dbf41f6fee4c28d63
ON GOP
RT Michael Hiltzik Will an 'outspent' GOP now embrace campaign finance reform? (Don't count on it) https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-gop-spending
Will an 'outspent' GOP now embrace campaign finance reform? (Don't count on it) https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-gop-spending
ON CONGRESS
RT Common Cause You should not have to be rich and well connected in order to run for office.
The first step in fixing this is stop making candidates raise big money from big donors, and instead have a system to publicly finance our elections and campaigns.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/running-for-office-congress-house-millionaires
RT Marina Fang A reminder from @aterkel why it's not a coincidence that most lawmakers don't represent their constituents economically. It's really hard to run for office if you're not rich. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/running-for-office-congress-house-millionaires
ON MICHIGAN
RT Alex Kotch This is NUTS: Michigan GOP is trying to ram through a lame-duck bill that would make it a crime for officials to ask nonprofits to reveal the identities of their donors. (via @donnydonny) https://t.co/37UAywM6S7
RT Jay Riestenberg Michigan Republicans are also trying to make it a crime for local agencies to require disclosure of campaigns donors.
They really do hate democracy. https://t.co/37UAywM6S7
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