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Attendees hold signs as they listen to speakers during a rally calling for an end to corporate money in politics and to mark the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, at Lafayette Square near the White House, January 21, 2015 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
As a report published Wednesday revealed that political consulting firms raked in $1.4 billion while simultaneously working for campaign committees and purportedly independent groups during the 2018 and 2020 election cycles, progressives renewed calls for Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act to protect and strengthen democracy.
"The findings in this study add to the overwhelming evidence that campaign committees and outside groups frequently are not truly independent of one another."
The report--entitled Dual Agents--was published by Public Citizen and further discredits Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, thehighly controversial 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which affirmed that corporations are legal persons and that they, labor unions, and other outside groups could spend unlimited amounts of money to influence the outcome of American elections--as long as they don't coordinate with candidates or campaigns.
"Political consulting firms are perfectly positioned to harmonize the message and strategies of campaigns and super PACs," said study author Taylor Lincoln, referring to the ostensibly independent political action committees that are allowed to raise unlimited amounts of money, then spend it on advocating for or against candidates.
Lincoln added, "The findings in this study add to the overwhelming evidence that campaign committees and outside groups frequently are not truly independent of one another."
\u201cNEW: We found that consulting firms raked in $1.4B while working simultaneously for campaign committees and outside groups.\n \nCitizens United assumed outside groups could act independently of candidates and parties.\n \nThat was absurd. We have the receipts.\nhttps://t.co/Yr3zqPDLqk\u201d— Public Citizen (@Public Citizen) 1639583733
Among the report's key findings:
"The activities of these common vendors underscore what a mockery Citizens United has made of our campaign finance system," Public Citizen executive vice president Lisa Gilbert said in a statement. "We need to pass the Freedom to Vote Act to stop consultants from acting as coordinators between candidates and super PACs."
\u201c\u260e\ufe0f The right to vote is in dying. We can contact our senators via the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask them to support the Freedom to Vote Act. \ufffc\u201d— Jennifer Taub (@Jennifer Taub) 1639585716
The report's revelations come amid reporting that Senate Democrats will wait to vote on the Build Back Better and instead focus on voting rights legislation. They also come as a a group of more than 20 college students from Arizona are in their second week of a hunger strike outside the White House in support of the Freedom to Vote Act.
Leo Cevallos, a senior at Arizona State University and one of the strikers, toldHuffPost that the proposed legislation "is about getting dark money out of politics and protecting our freedom to vote."
"Without it, our democracy will crumble--and our futures hang in the balance," he added.
\u201cThese students haven't eaten in more than a week as they urge lawmakers to pass the Freedom to Vote Act \u2014 here's what you should know about their indefinite hunger strike\n\n(with @LetsUnpac)\u201d— NowThis (@NowThis) 1639588380
If approved, the Freedom to Vote Act would boost ballot access by expanding automatic and same-day voting registration, early voting, and mail-in voting. It would also ban partisan gerrymandering, make Election Day a national holiday, and protect elections from foreign interference, dark money, and partisan special interests while promoting transparency in political advertising.
The measure, and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, are touted by progressives as a bulwark against Republican attacks on democracy. Although the proposed legislation has the support of all 50 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, Republicans have so far blocked it, as they did to the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act last month after House lawmakers passed the measure in August.
\u201cPass the Freedom to Vote Act and save American democracy.\u201d— Mondaire Jones (@Mondaire Jones) 1639606970
"We cannot overstate how urgent it is for the Senate to pass the Freedom to Vote Act," the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington tweeted earlier this week. "We need it to protect access to voting and to reduce the influence of money in politics."
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As a report published Wednesday revealed that political consulting firms raked in $1.4 billion while simultaneously working for campaign committees and purportedly independent groups during the 2018 and 2020 election cycles, progressives renewed calls for Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act to protect and strengthen democracy.
"The findings in this study add to the overwhelming evidence that campaign committees and outside groups frequently are not truly independent of one another."
The report--entitled Dual Agents--was published by Public Citizen and further discredits Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, thehighly controversial 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which affirmed that corporations are legal persons and that they, labor unions, and other outside groups could spend unlimited amounts of money to influence the outcome of American elections--as long as they don't coordinate with candidates or campaigns.
"Political consulting firms are perfectly positioned to harmonize the message and strategies of campaigns and super PACs," said study author Taylor Lincoln, referring to the ostensibly independent political action committees that are allowed to raise unlimited amounts of money, then spend it on advocating for or against candidates.
Lincoln added, "The findings in this study add to the overwhelming evidence that campaign committees and outside groups frequently are not truly independent of one another."
\u201cNEW: We found that consulting firms raked in $1.4B while working simultaneously for campaign committees and outside groups.\n \nCitizens United assumed outside groups could act independently of candidates and parties.\n \nThat was absurd. We have the receipts.\nhttps://t.co/Yr3zqPDLqk\u201d— Public Citizen (@Public Citizen) 1639583733
Among the report's key findings:
"The activities of these common vendors underscore what a mockery Citizens United has made of our campaign finance system," Public Citizen executive vice president Lisa Gilbert said in a statement. "We need to pass the Freedom to Vote Act to stop consultants from acting as coordinators between candidates and super PACs."
\u201c\u260e\ufe0f The right to vote is in dying. We can contact our senators via the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask them to support the Freedom to Vote Act. \ufffc\u201d— Jennifer Taub (@Jennifer Taub) 1639585716
The report's revelations come amid reporting that Senate Democrats will wait to vote on the Build Back Better and instead focus on voting rights legislation. They also come as a a group of more than 20 college students from Arizona are in their second week of a hunger strike outside the White House in support of the Freedom to Vote Act.
Leo Cevallos, a senior at Arizona State University and one of the strikers, toldHuffPost that the proposed legislation "is about getting dark money out of politics and protecting our freedom to vote."
"Without it, our democracy will crumble--and our futures hang in the balance," he added.
\u201cThese students haven't eaten in more than a week as they urge lawmakers to pass the Freedom to Vote Act \u2014 here's what you should know about their indefinite hunger strike\n\n(with @LetsUnpac)\u201d— NowThis (@NowThis) 1639588380
If approved, the Freedom to Vote Act would boost ballot access by expanding automatic and same-day voting registration, early voting, and mail-in voting. It would also ban partisan gerrymandering, make Election Day a national holiday, and protect elections from foreign interference, dark money, and partisan special interests while promoting transparency in political advertising.
The measure, and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, are touted by progressives as a bulwark against Republican attacks on democracy. Although the proposed legislation has the support of all 50 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, Republicans have so far blocked it, as they did to the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act last month after House lawmakers passed the measure in August.
\u201cPass the Freedom to Vote Act and save American democracy.\u201d— Mondaire Jones (@Mondaire Jones) 1639606970
"We cannot overstate how urgent it is for the Senate to pass the Freedom to Vote Act," the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington tweeted earlier this week. "We need it to protect access to voting and to reduce the influence of money in politics."
As a report published Wednesday revealed that political consulting firms raked in $1.4 billion while simultaneously working for campaign committees and purportedly independent groups during the 2018 and 2020 election cycles, progressives renewed calls for Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act to protect and strengthen democracy.
"The findings in this study add to the overwhelming evidence that campaign committees and outside groups frequently are not truly independent of one another."
The report--entitled Dual Agents--was published by Public Citizen and further discredits Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, thehighly controversial 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which affirmed that corporations are legal persons and that they, labor unions, and other outside groups could spend unlimited amounts of money to influence the outcome of American elections--as long as they don't coordinate with candidates or campaigns.
"Political consulting firms are perfectly positioned to harmonize the message and strategies of campaigns and super PACs," said study author Taylor Lincoln, referring to the ostensibly independent political action committees that are allowed to raise unlimited amounts of money, then spend it on advocating for or against candidates.
Lincoln added, "The findings in this study add to the overwhelming evidence that campaign committees and outside groups frequently are not truly independent of one another."
\u201cNEW: We found that consulting firms raked in $1.4B while working simultaneously for campaign committees and outside groups.\n \nCitizens United assumed outside groups could act independently of candidates and parties.\n \nThat was absurd. We have the receipts.\nhttps://t.co/Yr3zqPDLqk\u201d— Public Citizen (@Public Citizen) 1639583733
Among the report's key findings:
"The activities of these common vendors underscore what a mockery Citizens United has made of our campaign finance system," Public Citizen executive vice president Lisa Gilbert said in a statement. "We need to pass the Freedom to Vote Act to stop consultants from acting as coordinators between candidates and super PACs."
\u201c\u260e\ufe0f The right to vote is in dying. We can contact our senators via the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask them to support the Freedom to Vote Act. \ufffc\u201d— Jennifer Taub (@Jennifer Taub) 1639585716
The report's revelations come amid reporting that Senate Democrats will wait to vote on the Build Back Better and instead focus on voting rights legislation. They also come as a a group of more than 20 college students from Arizona are in their second week of a hunger strike outside the White House in support of the Freedom to Vote Act.
Leo Cevallos, a senior at Arizona State University and one of the strikers, toldHuffPost that the proposed legislation "is about getting dark money out of politics and protecting our freedom to vote."
"Without it, our democracy will crumble--and our futures hang in the balance," he added.
\u201cThese students haven't eaten in more than a week as they urge lawmakers to pass the Freedom to Vote Act \u2014 here's what you should know about their indefinite hunger strike\n\n(with @LetsUnpac)\u201d— NowThis (@NowThis) 1639588380
If approved, the Freedom to Vote Act would boost ballot access by expanding automatic and same-day voting registration, early voting, and mail-in voting. It would also ban partisan gerrymandering, make Election Day a national holiday, and protect elections from foreign interference, dark money, and partisan special interests while promoting transparency in political advertising.
The measure, and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, are touted by progressives as a bulwark against Republican attacks on democracy. Although the proposed legislation has the support of all 50 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, Republicans have so far blocked it, as they did to the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act last month after House lawmakers passed the measure in August.
\u201cPass the Freedom to Vote Act and save American democracy.\u201d— Mondaire Jones (@Mondaire Jones) 1639606970
"We cannot overstate how urgent it is for the Senate to pass the Freedom to Vote Act," the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington tweeted earlier this week. "We need it to protect access to voting and to reduce the influence of money in politics."