News Clips
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Blog
Who Pays for the Parties?
| Elisabeth MacNamaraEditorial Note: This piece was first published as part of the Huffington Post's Shadow Convention discussion on money in politics and on my Huffington Post blog.
The growing influence of money in politics threatens to corrupt our representative form of government, where the people – through their votes – are supposed to make the decisions.
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Blog
This Is It
| Elisabeth MacNamaraVery soon, the U.S. Senate will take up a bill to restore transparency to U.S. elections by requiring complete disclosure of spending on big-money advertising in candidate elections.
Contact your Senators now and ask them to vote for cloture on S. 3369, the DISCLOSE Act of 2012.
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Blog
Supreme Court Repeats Naïve, Uninformed Errors of Citizens United
| Elisabeth MacNamaraThe Court's decision today in a pivotal campaign finance case has repeated its naïve, uninformed errors from its Citizens United decision. The First Amendment is meant to protect essential freedoms, not as a weapon to destroy American democracy. We look forward to the day when the Supreme Court majority deals with facts rather than imposing their own ideological views.
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Press Release
SUPREME COURT DECIDES PIVOTAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE CASE
| KellyCourt Repeats Naïve, Uninformed Errors of Its Citizens United Decision
Washington, DC – Today the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Montana Supreme Court in the case of American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock, a case that dealt with a state law passed by Montana voters to end the corrupting influence of money in candidate elections. The League signed onto an amicus brief in support of the Montana law.
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Blog
Montana Case Could Bring Reconsideration of Citizens United Decision
| Jessica JonesOne of the remaining cases that the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide on before they recess for the summer is American Tradition Partnership vs. Bullock. The Supreme Court could decide to hear argument on this case when it returns this fall and ultimately it could cause the Supreme Court to reconsider its previous decision in Citizens United vs. FEC.
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Blog
Obama Administration Responds to Petition Regarding the FEC
| Jessica JonesBack in March the League joined with coalition partners on a petition asking the Obama Administration to appoint new commissioners to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The petition gathered over 27,000 signatures, over 2,000 signatures above the required threshold needed for a response from The White House.
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Blog
Money in Elections – What the League is Doing
| Elisabeth MacNamaraWe are all aware that the huge amount of special interest money, particularly in federal races, has been a problem for years. We also know that these problems have been magnified by the Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case which unleashed corporate spending for supposedly independent campaign expenditures and which has resulted in millions and millions of dollars in secret contributions.
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Blog
Time is now for disclosure: Why the League supports the DISCLOSE Act
| Elisabeth MacNamaraToday, a Senate Committee takes up the issue of money in politics, specifically, whether we need disclosure of who is spending vast amounts of money in American elections. The League is deeply concerned about the current state of political financing in our nation.
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Blog
Citizens United decision two years later
| Elisabeth MacNamaraThe U.S. Supreme Court issues many opinions each year and it is safe to say they all greatly impact the lives of Americans in some way. The Supreme Court’s opinion two years ago in Citizens United v. FEC is by all accounts one that has dramatically changed the landscape of modern political campaigns in America.