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A NOTE FROM FRED
There are two huge loopholes in the federal limits on contributions to national party committees that are little known to the public. These loopholes allow federal officeholders to solicit millionaires and billionaires for six-and-seven figure contributions to the parties that will benefit the officeholders.
These loopholes provide opportunities for corruption and the appearance of corruption and Democracy 21 has developed proposals that would close them.
An example of one of the loopholes in action was revealed this week when it became public that billionaire Steven Ross would be holding a fundraiser for President Trump where donors could write checks for as much as $250,000 per donor. This led to an immediate backlash and a call to boycott some of Ross’ businesses.
Donors can give $2,800 per donor, per election to presidential candidate Trump and $35,500 per donor per year to the Republican National Committee to use to support its presidential candidates. Donors can also give $10,000 per donor, per year to each state party.
But a misguided Supreme Court decision in McCutcheon v. FEC declared unconstitutional a limit on the total amount an individual can give to all candidates and parties combined in an election cycle.
As a result, a presidential candidate using a joint fundraising committee for the candidate, the national party, and the state parties can solicit from an individual checks over a two-year period of $250,000, or $500,000, or $1 million, to be spent on the candidate’s campaign.
Ross had previously made clear he was no fan of the President. In one article, Ross said “I don’t like Donald, OK, we can stop there. We’d be here all day.” In another report, Ross said that as a “an outspoken champion of racial equality, inclusion, diversity, public education, and environmental sustainability,” he strongly disagreed with a number of Trump’s policies.
So how do you explain a billionaire businessman soliciting $250,000 checks to support the reelection of a President that he does not like and that he strongly disagrees with on such fundamental issues?
It’s called influence-buying.
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MUST READS
TRUMP & FRIENDS
Trump Uses A Day Of Healing To Deepen The Nation’s Divisions, via The New York Times.
Trump’s Words Are Poison
“The president has done more than any politician in living memory to fan the flames of ethnic and racial antipathy and nurture a culture of bigotry,” via The Atlantic.
White House Rebuffed Attempts By DHS To Make Combating Domestic Terrorism A Higher Priority, via CNN.
No More Debate. Impeachment Inquiry Is Underway
Rep. Ted Deutsch (D-FL): “The Judiciary Committee officially started its investigation into the abuse of power by Trump on March 4, 2019. ... In every meaningful way, our investigation is an impeachment inquiry,” opinion via The South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Trump Quietly Used Little-Noticed Regulatory Moves To Expand Gun Access, via Politico.
Trump Golf Trips Costs Top $110 Million
Conservative groups criticized President Obama for spending $106 million for travel over his two full terms. In less than one term, Trump’s golf tab, alone, has already surpassed that, via HuffPost.
Trump’s Impact: Judicial Nominees By The Numbers
“In the 2 1/2 years that Trump has been in office, his administration has appointed nearly 1 in 4 of the nation’s federal appeals court judges and 1 in 7 of its district court judges. … In all, around 70% of Trump’s judicial appointees are white men,” via National Public Radio.
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INVESTIGATION OF THE WEEK
Influential corporate trade organizations and nonprofits spent $535 million on lobbying in 2017 and as much as an additional $675 million on unregulated efforts – exploiting loopholes in lobbying rules – to influence public policy.
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ELECTION SECURITY
Russia Is Going To Up Its Game For The 2020 Elections, via Wired.
The Scramble To Secure America’s Voting Machines
“Paperless voting devices are a gaping weakness in the patchwork U.S. election system, security experts say. But among these 14 states and their counties, efforts to replace these machines are slow and uneven,” via Politico.
Why Won’t The Senate Protect American Elections?
“With no beefing up of election defenses and high odds of continuing foreign interference. … Americans will wake up on Wednesday, November 4, 2020 wondering how the U.S. electoral process again fell prey to foreign interference and why political leaders failed to defend our vital democratic processes,” via Brookings.
Three Years After Russian Hackers Tapped Illinois Voter Database, State And Local Officials Spending Millions To Safeguard 2020 Election, via Chicago Tribune.
How An Election Security Push Is Running Aground In Texas, via Politico.
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FONT OF THE WEEK
"Today's map of the House of Representatives, it turns out, contains an unsightly but still readily readable alphabet," via The Fulcrum.
Download the font, with letters created by the actual shapes of gerrymandered congressional districts, at uglygerry.com
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453 DAYS ...
Trump Scheduled To Headline Fundraisers In The Hamptons; Tickets Run As High As $250,000, via The Washington Post.
How The Trump Campaign Used Facebook Ads To Amplify His “Invasion” Claims, via The New York Times.
Few Dems Have Loyal Small-Dollar Donor Bases
“About one-fifth of Democratic donors have given to multiple candidates, suggesting many haven’t settled on a favorite. ... [Secretary] Julian Castro and Sen. Cory Booker had the least-loyal donors. For each, about 60 percent of their donors also gave to other candidates,” via The Washington Post.
Interactive Map: The Donors Powering The 2020 Dem Campaigns, via The New York Times.
Here Are The Democratic Presidential Candidates With The Most Donations From Billionaires, via Forbes.
Rookie Bundlers Power Buttigieg Fundraising Surge
“Ninety-two people and couples have raised over $25,000 each for [Mayor Pete] Buttigieg, and only a third of them were big Clinton or Obama bundlers,” via Politico.
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MITCH McCONNELL 101
Mitch McConnell Has Long Argued For More Money In Politics, Which Led To A Decades-Long Fight With John McCain
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