Senators Propose Campaign Finance Reform

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) proposed campaign finance reform on Thursday that will seek to walk back the funding possibilities opened up by the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in elections.

Under their proposal, any organization engaging in federal political activity of any kind, from candidacy to advocacy, would be required to disclose their donors in real time. The law would apply to every candidate running for office and every billionaire hoping to influence an election. The same rules would apply equally to corporations, nonprofits and every type of organization in between, so long as they are using money to try to influence elections, as well as to labor union political funds and “right to work” organizations.

Here is the structure of their proposals:

PRINCIPLES

1.The public has the right to know who is contributing meaningful sums of money to any attempt to influence the selection, nomination, or election of a candidate to any federal office whether that money runs through a candidate committee or any other entity involved in Election Related Activity.

2.Given that candidate committees are already covered by an existing and thorough disclosure regime the only part of this proposal that applies to those entities is the change to real-time disclosure and the minimum contribution those committees must disclose. To the maximum extent feasible, the regime for disclosure by all other entities will be identical to that required of political candidates and PACs with respect to both receipts and expenditures.

3.Existing regulatory definitions including “independent expenditure,” “electioneering communication” and “express advocacy” create ambiguity which allows loopholes for political money on the one hand and threatens to chill non-political issue advocacy on the other. This proposal requires a clear, comprehensive definition of what activities fall under the disclosure regime and a process to proactively determine what is or is not Election Related Activity when questions arise.

4.Organizations involved in Election Related Activity will be required to register a legally responsible individual executive who will remain responsible for the actions of the organization if it closes its doors during or following an election cycle.

5.Another consequence of Citizens United is that dues-supported organizations, ranging from local chambers of commerce to national membership groups have the opportunity to make unlimited political expenditures utilizing the dues paid by their members. These organizations (and their members) may have a reasonable and legitimate interest in the nondisclosure of their rank and file membership. A limited safe harbor is necessary to ensure this interest is protected.

6.Citizens have a right to support political candidates through donations but they do not have a right to have their anonymous political donations subsidized through the Tax Code. Tax-exempt and taxpaying organizations that make Election Related Activity expenditures must be answerable both to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for compliance with applicable law and regulations.

7.The default punishment for tax-exempt entities who fail to register or to fully disclose their receipts and expenditures as required under this proposal is the loss of that exemption from the date of the first failure to report, along with any and all other appropriate penalties and interest. Tax paying entities must certify that they are not taking a tax deduction for political expenditures, as prohibited by current law.

8.There is a public interest in raising the minimum contribution that must be disclosed by all entities in the federal election regulatory process from its current “more than $200” level to a new “more than $500” level and in making contribution information available to the public much more quickly than the current system affords.

Use this LINK to view the entire Proposal.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NY Election Law Suggested Changes

New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver introduced legislation Thursday that would allow New Yorkers to vote up to two weeks before Election Day and force greater disclosure of the money behind political advertising.

The first bill, co-sponsored by Staten Island Assemblyman Mike Cusick, a Democrat who chairs the Election Law Committee, would require each county to have at least five sites for early voting and open them each of the 14 days leading up to the November election.

The hope is to boost voter turnout. Currently, New Yorkers can only vote in person from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day, or by filling out an absentee ballot if they have a reasonable belief they'll be unable to get the polls. Thirty-two other states, including Florida and Ohio, have some form of early voting.

The second measure would force disclosure of the funding sources behind political ads and vote-getting efforts not coordinated with a candidate. These so-called "independent expenditure" campaigns are a growing force in New York elections: The New York State United Teachers union spent over $4 million to boost mostly Democratic candidates in 2012, and two downstate Super PACs spent over $500,000 supporting Duanesburg Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk's bid for state Senate.

Just before Election Day, the State Board of Elections ruled that this spending only needs to be disclosed if it contains "magic words" that clearly direct voters to support or oppose a candidate. This standard did prompt disclosure by NYSUT and the pro-Tkaczyk PACs, but it is looser than definitions governing federal campaigns and elections in New York City.

Silver's bill would set the definition for state races more broadly, so that any campaign that is the "functional equivalent" of direct advocacy is required to disclose its spending and major donors.

"People are taking notice how much is being spent on independent expenditures," Silver said. "People are thinking it's the way to impact elections and avoid caps on donations. With the money that's being spent, it's important for voters to know who's behind those campaign messages."










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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End of Year Ramblings

The percentage of Americans identifying as political independents increased in 2011, as is common in a non-election year, although the 40% who did so is the highest Gallup has measured, by one percentage point. More Americans continue to identify as Democrats than as Republicans, 31% to 27%. These results are based on more than 20,000 interviews conducted in 20 separate Gallup polls in 2011. Gallup has computed annual averages of party identification since 1988, when it began regularly conducting interviews by telephone. The prior high percentage of independents was 39% in 1995 and 2007.

So with just 20,000 interviews, the voting public is independent. But after reviewing the registration numbers in 2012 of active voters we find: in New York 20.49%, California 20.90%, and in Florida 21.04% are registered in no party. But we do know that the registration of new voters have increased the percent of no party voters.

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This was the year California used "Top-Two" Open Primaries. In New York we have tried twice for Non-Partisan" Municipal elections. The first time with the help of Mayor Bloomberg, we got it on the ballot but lost 2 to 1. The second time we got the issue in front of the New York City Charter Revision Commission, but could not get it on the ballot. We also lost Top-Two in Arizona by a 2 to 1 vote in 2012.

I have some reservations with Top-Two and will start looking into the workings of Blanket Primaries so it will pass a Supreme Court test.

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As an active member of the New York City Independence Party, we have as our mission the following issues:

The New York City Independence Party set out 18 years ago with a simple idea: to create a new and independent reform movement of New Yorkers from all walks of life. We are a new kind of minor party – genuinely independent, built from the bottom up, and not tied to the Democratic and Republican parties.

The Independence Party has over 100,000 members in New York City. over 3,500 of them have joined local county committees in all five boroughs, the governing bodies of the organization. Thousands more sign petitions, volunteer, and play a role in the Independence Party’s many campaigns for political reform.

Partisan politics holds back development in our city. We support political reforms that bring the one million New York independents into the heart of the political process, such as nonpartisan municipal elections, seating independents on the Board of Elections, separating party interest from the public interest, and making sure that good policy, rather than partisan politics, guides the running of this city.

We have built a new electoral coalition in New York City that took center stage in 2005 when 47% of African Americans and 65% of independents supported our mayoral candidate, Mike Bloomberg, in his re-election bid. We’ve partnered with Mike Bloomberg since 2001, when the votes on our line gave him his first margin of victory. In 2007, Mayor Bloomberg became an independent himself and we believe he has governed our city in a nonpartisan fashion. In 2009 the Independence Party received 150,000 votes on our line for Mayor Bloomberg, a record breaking number for a minor party.

The New York City Independence Party believes in change and community. We need to change the culture of New York politics so that it is grounded in genuine civic debate that includes and empowers all New Yorkers. And it is by building a new community of independents from the bottom up that we can effect that change.


As part of this independent movement, IndependentVoting.org has launched a national campaign to lobby Congress to hold hearings on the structural discrimination in our electoral system against independent voters. The purpose of our campaign is two-fold: 1) To educate Congress and shine a light on the effect of partisan control of the election process, namely that a large % of independent Americans have a second class status; and 2) to urge Congress to investigate these biases by holding hearings.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Holiday Wishes from the IPNYC

From me, my friends and colleagues:

"> On behalf of all of us at the NYC Independence Party Best Wishes and Holiday Cheer  to you and your family! Looking forward to creating an Independent 2013 with you!

County Chairs: Nardo Reyes, Bronx; Sarah Lyons, Staten Island; Cathy Stewart, Manhattan; Nancy Hanks, Queens; Bob Conroy, Brooklyn

NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Has the Independent Disappeared?

In today's POLITICO, Lois Romano wrote an article "The disappearing independent" quoting Ruy Teixeira, a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress, giving independents an acronym: IINO — Independents In Name Only.

She writes:

As Republicans sift through the wreckage of the presidential election and Democrats brace for the 2014 midterms, there is one clear point of agreement between them: Independent voters no longer decide elections.

In 2012, Mitt Romney became the first presidential candidate in recent history to decisively win the independent vote — yet just as decisively lose the election. Pollsters and campaign strategists — particularly Republicans — are scrambling to understand what happened — and more important, what it means for future campaign strategies.

Strategists in both parties now believe that the Romney campaign and the GOP in general completely missed a significant new reality: Many voters who chose to remain unaffiliated with either party are no longer shifting their allegiance from election to election, candidate to candidate. Instead, they are becoming increasingly partisan and predictable. That means that in order to win, each party must be far more ambitious in cementing its base — as Team Obama did — to win elections.

“This model is less likely to work in off-years where turnout is generally lower because there is no high-visibility contest at the top of the ballot,” said University of Michigan political scientist Michael Traugott. “The presidential campaign team usually has less interest in these contests as well. Just look at what happened in 2010 in the Republican sweep.

“So I would say that Obama expanded his OWN base, but not in a way that helped many other Democratic candidates in the off-year. This is a puzzle that remains to be solved.”

To read the article, CLICK HERE

As an independent activist, this misses what happened in 2012. The GOP had a bad candidate, bad issues, and had no ground game in the swing states or with the deciding voters, Hispanics and Women. In the 21th Century, many of the registered voters do vote the candidate not the party, want to remove the barriers to taking part in the candidate selection process through Open primaries for all voters and giving all possible candidates an equal opportunity to get on the ballot.

Toward this end, the independent movement will meet in New York:

National Conference of Independent Voters

Saturday, February 16th, 2013
NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts

On February 16th, 2013, hundreds of independents will gather from all across the country to take stock of a growing movement that is reimagining America along nonpartisan and developmental lines.

The independent movement is raising a broad social reform question; should political parties be the singular vehicle for political participation and representation, or do we need new forms of political expression—forms that transfer political power from the parties to the people?

For more Information, CLICK HERE










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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IPNYC 13th Annual Ant-Corruption Awards

Yesterday I attended the Independence Party New York City Organization's 13th Annual Anti-Corruption Awards and Fund Raiser. It sub-title was: Time To "GAL" Vanize" honoring Independent Woman. The two honorees were: Stephanie Orosco and Jacqueline Salit.

Stephanie Orosco - is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro studying Sociology and African-American studies. She took part in a state-wide survey of college students designed to better understand the political independence of students. She also is the founder of the UNCG College Independents.

Jacqueline Salit - is the President of IndependentVoting.org. She managed Michael Bloomberg's three campaigns for Mayor on the Independence line, and is the author of the recently released book Independent Rising. She made her off-Broadway debut in 2012, playing James Madison in the Castillo Theater's production of Sally and Tom (The American Way) which I really enjoyed.

Also attending the event were some 2013 Mayoral candidates: New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn(D), New York State Senator Malcolm Smith(D) running for the Republican line in the primary; and former Bronx Borough President and former White House Director of Urban Affairs Aldolfo Carrion Jr.(I) running for the Republican line in the primary.



Adolfo Carrion Jr. - "I have declared my independence. I will tell you that it feels good. Community matters more than party. I grew up in he city in the 1970s. I was a teenager. You know that city. We can't go back. It's going to require independent leadership."

Other 2013 candidates said:

In 2009, Bill Thompson received more votes for mayor on the Democratic line than Mayor Michael Bloomberg received on the Republican line, but Bloomberg prevailed in the unexpectedly close race thanks to the 150,073 votes he secured on the Independence Party line. Yesterday, Thompson, who is running for mayor again, said he'll seek the Independence Party's support this year.

Publisher Tom Allon, is a Republican candidate for Mayor of New York City in 2013. He is the owner of Manhattan Media. A Democrat-turned-Republican said he too would seek the Independence Party's support.

"A candidate's registration is not a deciding factor for us," Jacqueline Salit, a leader of the Independence Party said. "That's one of the great things about having fusion politics. But we're very gratified Carrion became an independent and we're very gratified that the three candidates came here today."

Another leading member of the party, Dr. Lenora Fulani, said we are open to talking with other mayoral candidates as well. They said they were interested in hearing mayoral candidates talk about rebuilding New York after Hurricane Sandy, and about electoral reform.



Mayor Michael Bloomberg made a cameo appearance saluting Jackie Salit on her award.

For now, the Independence Party's support is up for grabs and I am on the Selection Committee.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NY Promise of Campaign Finance Reform

In yesterday's New York Times Editorial page, there was this "Mr. Cuoma's Next Big Task".

It explains how Governor Cuomo could persuade the State Legislature to make New York's system of electing legislators the fairest and most transparent in the country.

Use this link to read the article.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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The Romney Campaign’s Ground Game Fiasco

This story starts in 2008. Team Obama built, an in-house, highly touted, high-tech voter-targeting system, nicknamed Narwhal after the Arctic sea mammal. Narwhal provided the Obama campaign with reams of specific data on voters, like finding single women in conservative counties, or families with children who have disabilities.

In 2012, the Romney campaign outsourced its own killer app and called it Project Orca, the fierce great whale that is the natural predator of the Narwhal. The only problem, Boston’s Orca turned out to be toothless.

When Republican fundraisers solicited the party’s big donors on behalf of Mitt Romney this year, the centerpiece of the pitch was a state-of-the-art campaign to identify the party’s likely voters and make sure they came to the polls on Election Day. Political pros call this county-by-county, block-by-block campaigns, "The Ground Game". And while most of the media attention focuses on candidate speeches, debates, and ad buys, it’s the ground game where elections are won and lost.

On Tuesday, Republicans lost the election on the ground. As the Republican Party picks up the pieces from this defeat, the first fingers are being pointed at a GOP ground game that insiders describe as nothing short of a fiasco.

The system was different from Narwhal. It was designed to allow Romney poll watchers, in real time, to identify likely Romney supporters who still had not shown up at polling stations on Election Day. By uploading the names of people who had voted, the computers back in Boston could figure out who still needed to be targeted and turned out.

At least that’s the way it was supposed to work. But on Tuesday, it became clear that the deployment of Orca was doing more harm than good. “I think it’s fair to say that pretty much everything about the system that was supposed to work actually failed,” said one campaign official who witnessed the breakdown from the Romney war room on the floor of Boston’s TD Garden.

The Romney high command had cloaked the system in secrecy to maintain what it hoped would be a true competitive turnout advantage. But by limiting the number of people with access to Orca, the campaign was not able to train its field operatives to use it or do the necessary beta-testing to work out the kinks that typically plague new software.

“It did not work perfectly,” said Rich Beeson, the Romney campaign’s political director, in an interview. He acknowledged that Orca crashed in the morning on Election Day. At first the campaign thought the system had been hacked, he said. Passwords and user names for the 34,000 volunteers using the program had to be reset.

In many instances, the voter lists that were loaded on the smart phones of field operatives didn’t match the precincts where they’d been sent, campaign officials said. In addition, there were massive credentialing problems, so Romney poll watchers were not permitted to operate at many precincts. In many rural precincts, poor cellphone coverage made it difficult or impossible for Romney forces to transmit information. Finally, because poll watchers tend to be older, tech-averse volunteers and because there was so little training, many of them simply couldn’t master the technical aspects of the task.

“We were sold on Mitt as this brilliant manager and turnaround artist,” said John Ekdahl, one of those poll watchers in Florida who used Orca. “But it was a snake-oil kind of program. I say this as a Web developer. This was throwing money at a product that just didn’t work.” Ekdahl first published his critique of Orca on the conservative website Ace of Spades. Other poll watchers who asked not to be named had similar complaints.

The mood grew increasingly grim on Tuesday as Romney officials realized that their supposed state-of-the-art answer to the Chicago’s turnout juggernaut was a bust. Walking down the central aisle of the Romney war room you didn’t hear the humming of a well-oiled turnout machine, one campaign official recalled. You heard the panicky tones of operatives flooded with calls from the field about technical snafus and mass confusion.

There were other problems for Romney’s ground game in the battleground states. The Obama for America team, for example, had field operations in states like Ohio stay behind after the 2008 election and slowly but surely pick up steam as Election Day 2012 approached. The Republicans closed their field offices after the 2010 midterms.

Finally, the Republicans were never able to match the Obama campaign’s ability to use data from purchase histories, voting registration, and campaign contacts to tailor specific messages to specific voters in a process known as micro-targeting. The Democrats were able to use this kind of data in deploying armies of volunteer door-knockers and others who targeted their voters over time.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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