March, 14 2014, 03:13pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Angela Bradbery (202) 588-7741
Karilyn Gower (202) 588-7779
Groups Urge Obama to Preserve Presidential Public Financing Program
Obama Should Veto H.R. 2019
WASHINGTON
Public Citizen and nine other civic groups today called on President Barack Obama to veto H.R. 2019, legislation that repeals a portion of the presidential public financing program while masquerading as a bill to fund pediatric research.
The bill was originally introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.), a longtime opponent of campaign finance reform. After Harper was unable to persuade Congress to approve earlier legislation that would have entirely defunded the public financing program, Harper re-worked the bill into what became labeled the "Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act" (named after a 10-year-old child who died last year from brain cancer). The legislation transfers public funds used to pay for the nominating conventions into the general treasury, then states that those funds may be used for pediatric research, if Congress ever decides to appropriate the funds for that purpose.
"This is a fig-leaf bill whose only real intent is to whittle away at the presidential public financing program," said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen. "The presidential public financing system needs to be repaired, not repealed."
The presidential public financing program provides qualified candidates with matching funds in the primary election, full public financing in the general election and grants to pay for the presidential nominating conventions. Harper's measure addresses only public financing for the conventions.
Each party is given about $18 million in public funds to help finance their nominating conventions. Nearly all presidential candidates participated in the public financing program from 1976 through 2004, though in recent elections, most candidates have opted out of the system because Congress has failed to modernize the program to keep up with the flood of money - particularly from corporations and the wealthy - that is funneled into elections by outside groups.
"While those behind this legislation pretend they are allocating money to a noble cause, Congress has in fact slashed funding for this type of research in the budget by far more than would be added by this bill," said Lisa Gilbert, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch division. "This bill does not even explicitly guarantee funds for pediatric research. It seems the real agenda is to directly attack presidential public financing."
If the convention funding is appropriated for pediatric research, it would provide less than 0.05 of 1 percent of the agency's $30 billion budget. Given current spending caps on governmental agencies, Congress also would have to pass legislation lifting the spending ceiling for the National Institutes of Health to carry through with this appropriation, something that Congress is very unlikely to do.
Public Citizen calls upon Obama to veto this cynical measure.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
(202) 588-1000LATEST NEWS
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While current and former officials across the U.S. political spectrum shared praise for and fond memories of former Sen. Joe Lieberman in response to news of his death on Wednesday, critics highlighted how some of his key positions led to the deaths of many others.
Lieberman's family said the 82-year-old died at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital after a fall at his home in the Bronx. He served in the Connecticut Senate, as the state's attorney general, and in the U.S. Senate—initially as a Democrat and eventually as an Independent. He was also Democratic former Vice President Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 presidential election.
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Journalist Jon Schwarz pointed out that Lieberman continued to lie about the WMDs long after the claims were debunked.
FormerMSNBC host Mehdi Hasan noted that Lieberman declined an opportunity to apologize for the disastrous war, sharing a clip from his on-camera interview with the ex-senator in 2021.
And please don\u2019t give me this \u2018don\u2019t speak ill of the dead\u2019 stuff - 1) I\u2019m not speaking ill, I\u2019m stating facts, and 2) public figures are public figures, and their obits reflect their legacies and so we should be honest in our accounts of their legacies. Not offensive but honest— (@)
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