With only the wealthy funding and communicating with the campaigns of elected officials, politicians are incentivized to make policy decisions that align with their donors’ interests, not those of their broader constituency. But the elite donor class holds views that don’t align with the general public’s, as a 2016 Demos study detailed.
Washington, DC – Today, Adam Lioz, Demos Counsel and Senior Advisor of Policy & Outreach, released the following statement in support of the Fair Elections Now Act, introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin.
“Demos applauds Senator Durbin and his colleagues for re-introducing the Fair Elections Now Act, the strongest public financing legislation in the U.S. Senate.
NEW YORK, NY – In response to the “Better Deal” proposal that Congressional Democrats laid out today, Tamara Draut, Vice President of Policy and Research at Demos, released the following statement:
Dear Senators:
We the undersigned organizations write to oppose the confirmation of John K. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Damien Schiff to the Court of Federal Claims due to their troubling views on the issue of money in politics.
Historically, organizing to get big money out of politics has been driven largely by older, white, and male leaders, frequently missing the voices of those who are the most marginalized by the failings of our democracy.
Today, the Supreme Court declined to review a lower court decision upholding limits on so-called "soft money" in politics. Congress enacted these limits as part of the McCain-Feingold Act in hopes of stopping wealthy donors from funneling huge sums of unregulated or “soft” money to political parties as a way of evading campaign contribution limits.
Despite important advances with ballot initiatives and the rise of the powerful Fight for $15 movement, there is still progress to be made on raising the minimum wage.
What a time for democracy. Scan the front page of any national newspaper these days, and even the most optimistic of #resistors can feel overwhelmed. The Russian government, say intelligence reports, conducted an “influence campaign” against Clinton and in favor of Trump. Now, the FBI is investigating whether President Trump and/or his associates had ties to such a campaign. Decades ago we feared the Reds infiltrating our land. But top-level collusion between our government and theirs? Not even “The Americans” portrays that scenario.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) confronted Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch about the vicious cycle facing our democracy: of severe concentration of economic power yielding severe concentration of political power.
Today the Election Law Journal published Beyond Corruption, a peer-reviewed symposium on money in politics and the Supreme Court. The symposium was guest-edited by Professor David Schultz and contains pieces by several Demos attorneys, including a Foreword by Demos President Heather McGhee.
Senate Judiciary Committee Must Focus on Judge Gorsuch’s Troubling Money-in-Politics Record
Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Schumer, Chairman Grassley, and Ranking Member Feinstein:
As organizations representing tens of millions of Americans, we write to express our deep concern regarding the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States because of his troubling record on money in politics.
1. Do you agree that wealthy donors translating their massive economic power directly into political influence is a problem that should be taken into account when considering rules governing spending on elections?
