Public Campaign Action Fund - reform

If it wasn't nailed down, it was for sale

Adam Smith — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:54:50 +0000

On Sunday, the Chicago Tribune ran an article with the subhead, "Blagojevich's arrest may be the final straw that shatters Illinois' political culture of 'pay to play'."

Ad Up

Katie Schlieper — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:17:23 +0000

In light of the Wall Street downturn, incessant bailout talk, and John McCain's decision to "suspend" his campaign and jump in to the bailout negotiations, Campaign Money Watch, a project of Public Campaign Action Fund, has a new ad that reminds Sen. McCain of own ethically wobbling history with the financial and real estate industries and asks the Senator to throw his weight behind Fair Elections legislation instead.

New Reform Venture

Katie Schlieper — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:43:58 +0000

Stanford law professor and noted copyright law expert Lawrence Lessig launched his new venture today, Change-Congress.org, designed to track the position of members of Congress on key reform issues, and put them on the record in support of things like the Fair Elections Now Act, which would publicly finance congressional campaigns. Read more about his project here.

One Bad Egg Rots the Whole Pork Barrel

Katie Schlieper — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:40:29 +0000

The push to eliminate earmark spending for a one year period failed spectacularly in the Senate yesterday, despite support from unlikely corners. Indeed stories of bribed legislators and Bridges to Nowhere weren't enough to dissuade Senators from the pork barrel spending that's the bread and butter of reelection. While the impetus behind the proposed moratorium was a good one, it's going at the problem the wrong way.

Signs of Progress

Katie Schlieper — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 22:19:25 +0000

Joel Bleifuss, editor of In These Times writes on the need for reform in Congress that takes on the fundamental link between campaign contributions and legislation: full public financing, in the Clean Elections model, for congressional elections.

Outsourcing Oversight

Katie Schlieper — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:37:17 +0000

Among the reforms being considered by the Democratic leaders of the incoming 110th Congress is an independent ethics oversight panel, an apparent acknowledgement that Congress is no longer able to police itself. Yet, despite this interest in investigating new ethical breaches no major overhaul is being considered that would mitigate existing conflicts of interest.

What Will Change?

Katie Schlieper — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 20:08:36 +0000

Time magazine's Massimo Calabresi speculates on the potential lobbying reforms that may come about when Democrats take control of Congress in January. Balancing campaign promises to clean up Washington against a newly favorable environment on the K Street lobbying corridor, what changes will Democrats bring?

Systematic Reform

Katie Schlieper — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 19:37:35 +0000

The New York Times ran this piece on Sunday suggesting that (surprise!) the earmarking issue is a birpartisan problem - despite the legacy of Duke Cunningham, Jack Abramoff and others, the soon-to-be Democrat-controlled Congress seems less than enthusiastic about shutting off the pipeline of pork.

Timeline on Transparency

Katie Schlieper — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 15:17:26 +0000

The battle to bring greater transparency to the secretive Congressional "earmarking" practice has created an unlikely band of allies as earmark reform bills, conceived largely in response to the Duke Cunningham scandal, in both the House and Senate face multiple obstacles - and a tight timeline for passage.

The Folly of Finger-Pointing

Katie Schlieper — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 15:35:55 +0000

Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) offers up a moan-and-groan editorial in today's USA Today blaming Democrats for the almost total lack of activity around reform in Congress. Defending the pitiful slate of reforms trumpeted on Capitol Hill, Dreier ignores the true injustice: the interests of the American public are being put aside while politicians dither over the price of dinner.