FEC

  • Blog

    Money in Elections – What the League is Doing

    | Elisabeth MacNamara

    We 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

    Waiting for President Obama's answer to FEC Petition

    | Elisabeth MacNamara

    It was just about a month ago that the League and partner organizations successfully petitioned The White House to appoint new commissioners to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).  Our petition argued that the FEC is supposed to be the agency that enforces campaign finance laws, but it is dysfunctional.  Of the six commissioners at the agency, three of them staunchly refuse to enforce the law, and five of the six are serving despite expired terms.  Today, we again wrote to President Obama, asking for a response.

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  • Blog

    We made our goal!

    | Elisabeth MacNamara

    Thanks to the passion and hard work of all of our members and supporters, we surpassed our goal of 25,000 signatures on the FEC petition to the White House. This feat was not easy - as many of you can attest to - but we wanted to personally thank each and every one of you that signed the petition and worked to get your friends, family and neighbors to do the same.

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  • Press Release

    League and Partners Surpass FEC Petition Goal

    | Kelly

     

     LEAGUE AND PARTNERS SURPASS FEC PETITION GOAL

    Await Response from President Obama on Enforcing Campaign Finance Laws

    Washington, DC - Today, the League of Women Voters announced they had surpassed their goal of 25,000 petition signatures on the White House "We the People" website that asks President Obama to appoint new commissioners to the malfunctioning Federal Election Commission (FEC).  The League and partners Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy21 and Public Citizen launched the petition drive on January 11 in order to get a response from the Administration on this critical issue that, to date, it has ignored.

    "The Obama campaign’s decision this week to allow surrogates to assist Super PACs in raising funds illustrates how broken the system is and that the FEC is asleep at the switch," said Elisabeth MacNamara, national League President.  "The only reason that the leading presidential campaigns of both political parties are able to work with the Super PACs is that the FEC is not enforcing the law. Indeed the FEC says this is acceptable.  Our democracy needs a fully-functioning FEC," said MacNamara.

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  • Blog

    State of our union? Too much big money in campaigns

    | Elisabeth MacNamara

    Tomorrow night, President Obama will deliver his third State of the Union address to Congress and the nation. There are many important issues for the President to discuss, most importantly the state of our economy. We, like many of you, are keenly interested in what he will say.

    According to some news reports, the President may propose political changes in a number of areas, including the financing of political campaigns.

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