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campaign finance

08 Dec

Influence for Sale: How American Politicians Have Been Bought and Paid For

Nick Ramos4 CommentsArticles, GovernmentAndrew Yang, Bernie Sanders, campaign finance, campaign finance reform, Citizens United, FEC, Federal Corrupt Practices Act, Federal Election Campaign Act, Hillary Clinton, Joe Manchin, Joseph Keppler, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice John Paul Stevens, Kyrsten Sinema, Mitch McConnell, money in politics, President Nixon, quid pro quo, Robert Bork, Robert E. Mutch, Supreme Court, Tillman Act, Watergate

In 2000, the total investment in United States federal elections—congressional and presidential—was $3 billion. By 2020, it had shot up to $14.4 billion. Perhaps it’s time to ask what that additional $11.4 billion does for the American people. What’s really being bought? Campaign finance is back in the news thanks to the actions of Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, who have spent the past few months blocking the Democratic Party’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in the Senate. When journalists looked into possible motivations for this obstruction, they found money to be a key factor. Sinema raised over $1…

30 Aug

Congress in Crisis: Assessing Our Broken Branch, Pt. II

Nathan C. Smolensky0 CommentsArticles, Governmentcampaign finance, Congress, Democratic Party, electoral reform, House of Representatives, John Sarbanes, Katherine Gehl, Ken Buck, Lawrence Lessig, Newt Gingrich, reform, Republican Party, Ro Khanna, Senate, structural reform, US Congress

How We Got Here, Why It's Getting Worse, & What We Can Do About It Editor’s Note: This is the second article in our two-part series on Congress. Part I discusses the issues currently causing the problems in Congress. This part discusses how we got to this point. “I think the most important man in the history of Congress, after [James] Madison, was Newt Gingrich. And I think Newt Gingrich destroyed congress”[1] —Lawrence Lessig A pivotal moment in the evolution of our modern legislature came in 1994, when Republicans won control of the House of Representatives for the first time…

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