Hartford, CT. – A coalition of good government groups including Common Cause, Demos, People For the American Way, Public Citizen, Credo Action and others are calling on Connecticut Governor Dannell Malloy to sign H.B. 5556, “Changes to Campaign Finance Laws and other Election Laws,” which just passed the General Assembly. The bill would require public disclosure of major corporate and individual donors to Super PACs and other independent groups, bringing increased transparency and accountability to Connecticut’s elections.
Last summer, a Western Beef store in the East Tremont section of the South Bronx became the first supermarket in the city to receive funding through the city’s Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program. The FRESH initiative provides financial and zoning incentives to entice supermarket chains to build new stores in neighborhoods that lack access to fresh, wholesome foods.
Last summer, on her final day as the Chairman of the FDIC, Shelia Bair decried the short-termism that has overtaken both Wall Street and Washington, where “[o]ur financial markets remain too focused on quick profits, and our political process is driven by a two-year election cycle and its relentless demands for fundraising.” This short-termism has taken hold of the reins of our larger political system and increasingly characterizes policy initiatives at every level of government.
New York – In advance of Earth Day, a new research brief from non-partisan public policy organization Demos sounds a wake up call for policymakers and voters: “The Economic and Environmental Impacts of Climate Change in Florida” lays out how Floridians’ health, economy, and environment are already suffering the effects of climate change and how continued inaction on climate change promises dire consequences in the coming decades.
New York – In advance of Earth Day, a new research brief from non-partisan public policy organization Demos sounds a wake up call for policymakers and voters: “The Economic and Environmental Impacts of Climate Change in Arizona” lays out how Arizonans’ health, economy, and environment are already suffering the effects of climate change and how continued inaction on climate change promises dire consequences in the coming decades.
New York – In advance of Earth Day, a new research brief from non-partisan public policy organization Demos sounds a wake up call for policymakers and voters: “The Economic and Environmental Impacts of Climate Change in Nevada” lays out how Nevadans’ health, economy, and environment are already suffering the effects of climate change and how prolonged inaction on climate change promises dire consequences in the coming decades.
Climate change poses a tremendous threat to Florida. Sea level rise, more intense precipitation, and stronger hurricanes increase the risk of natural disaster and imperil the state’s economy and its citizens’ safety.
In 1907, Congress banned corporate contributions to federal candidates in the wake of the robber baron-era scandals. In 1947, the ban was formally applied to corporate expenditures and extended to cover labor unions.
The difference is obvious, Potter replied. Because 527 groups were legally shady, they attracted far less money from fewer donors. True, the FEC didn’t enforce the law, but donors couldn’t be sure that would be the case, and some were unwilling to take the risk.
The U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision unleashed the specter of unlimited corporate political donations in U.S. elections. So far, however, it's mostly rich individuals doing the donating.
A new report from two public-interest groups confirms fears "that the cash for big-ticket campaign spending like TV advertising is increasingly controlled by an elite class of super-rich patrons not afraid to plunk down a million bucks or more for favored candidates and causes."
Washington, D.C. – Today U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Demos released a new analysis of the funding sources for the campaign finance behemoths, Super PACs. The findings confirmed what many have predicted in the wake of the Supreme Court’s damaging Citizens United decision: since their inception in 2010, Super PACs have been primarily funded by a small segment of very wealthy individuals and business interests, with a small but significant amount of funds coming from secret sources.