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MAY 24, 2010 | Commentary by MATTHEW BROUILLETTE
The Real "Special Interest" Problem in PA
Everyone loves to hate "special interests." They spend millions of dollars in electing and lobbying public officials in order to gain political or legislative favor. So it was no surprise when groups like PennFuture and the Keystone Research Center's Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center joined with Common Cause PA and th
JANUARY 23, 2008 | Commentary by MATTHEW BROUILLETTE
Campaign Finance Limits Destroy Democracy
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court recently upheld Philadelphia's law limiting the amount of money that an individual can contribute to a political candidate. While advocates of campaign contribution limits cheered the decision, Pennsylvanians who cherish First Amendment speech rights should regard it as a loss.
AUGUST 15, 2007 | Policy Points by COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION
Campaign Finance Limits & Public Funding
Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering legislation that would limit campaign contributions and would allow for taxpayer financing of gubernatorial campaigns. This legislation is based on the “Clean Election” model passed by Arizona in 1998, New Jersey in 2005, and the Federal laws passed in the mid 1970s. While appealing at first blu
Recent Blog Posts
NOVEMBER 11, 2011
Common Cause: Gas Political Money Can't Match Unions
The third or fourth report by Common Cause PA on political spending (campaign contributions and lobbying) by the natural gas industry reveals nothing new. According to Common Cause, the Political Action Committees, employees, and shareholders of natural gas companies—not the companies themselves, though the report fails to make that clear—spent $6 million in campaign contributions to Pennsylvania candidates from 2001 to 2011.
That sum is dwarfed by campaign spending by union PACs—more than $20 million each election cycle. Union PACS spent at least $23 million in 2009-10 and $27 million in 2007-08. Unions outspend the gas industry, and its supporters, by more than 10 to one.
Why hasn't Common Cause studied union political spending? Or for that matter, where is the study of political spending of "alternative energy" interests that advocate not only for freedom to operate in the state, but for taxpayer subsidies and mandates to buy their product?
While Common Cause tries to claim this report shows the need for campaign finance restrictions, their proposed solution is to mirror federal limits. This is odd, since their national affiliate released a report decrying too much money in federal politics (and even at the federal level, unions dominate political spending). You won't get "money out of politics" as long as politicians determine who gets all the money.
Rather, Common Cause stood by with several other groups that advocate not for "good government" but for redistribution of wealth from gas drillers to other special interests.
By solely demonizing one industry, which is a small player in political money, and overlooking the failure of campaign finance laws to limit big government, Common Cause is simply embracing "Frack-a-phobia" to advance a redistributionist political agenda.
posted by NATHAN BENEFIELD | 10:55 AM | 0 comment
NOVEMBER 1, 2010
Do We Spend Too Much on Politics?
Recent estimates put spending on midterm campaigns at over $3.6 billion nationally. That's enough to buy 7.2 million I-pads, or roughly one dollar for every thousand spent by government. Many say money corrupts politics, but could it be that corrupt politics attracts money?
Despite endless campaign finance regulation, corporations and individuals still find it in their best interest to spend money in the hopes of influencing lawmakers. Why? With a federal budget of over $3.5 trillion (and state and local government spending at around $3 trillion annually), taxpayers are spending $1,000 for every $1 of campaign spending. That's is a huge potential return on investment.
The solution to campaign finance is not more regulation, but reducing the size and power of government.
posted by NICHOLAS FETT | 01:11 PM | 0 comment
SEPTEMBER 16, 2010
Pennsylvania Has Been Collecting Info on Citizens for Years
There has been a hullabaloo over the discovery that the Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security (under the Emergency Management Agency), has been paying a private company to put together details about protests and rallies that may, or may not, turn violent. These event lists were then sent out via bulletin to local police and potential targets.
While it is a waste of taxpayer money to pay a consultant to troll Google for event listings, the outrage is a bit late.
The PA Department of State has for years been collecting information about the political activity of average citizens. Worse yet, they post this information online for all to see -- including the city and employer of each individual.
It's called Campaign Finance Disclosure.
posted by NATHAN BENEFIELD | 05:00 PM | 0 comment
