News Clips

“For years, Congressional efforts to pass legislation needed to address the nation’s long-standing disparities in connectivity have been stopped dead in their tracks in part because of aggressive industry lobbying and the oversized political influence of the largest ISPs,” Common Cause Media and Democracy Program Director Yosef Getachew said of the study. Getachew noted that efforts to improve broadband mapping, fund the deployment of competitive fiber, or even improve the standard definition of broadband have all repeatedly been scuttled by industry lobbying. At the same time, telecom lobbyists have worked tirelessly to undermine federal and state regulatory oversight of the heavy monopolized telecom industry.

"Self-enrichment is the defining characteristic of a scam PAC, regardless of what they're saying they're doing or in fact doing with the money," said Paul S. Ryan, the vice president of policy and litigation at the watchdog group Common Cause. "Just saying that you spent the money on robocalls doesn't negate allegations of scam PAC-i-ness." But a worst-case scenario, according to Ryan, of the watchdog group Common Cause, would play out like this: the FEC fines would continue to grow but a PAC "so deep in the red could just shut down. It could close its bank account, close its office or P.O. Box and, for all intents and purposes, disappear," said Ryan. And because PACs are typically corporations, said Ryan, "The people who set up the PAC are only personally financially liable under campaign finance law if they've knowingly and willfully violated the law."

“Administrative action, litigation, and organizing are critical to combat this, but these tactics are not a substitute for congressional action on the For the People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act,” Karen Hobert Flynn, president of the group Common Cause, said Tuesday. “As the president ramps up his use of the bully pulpit and engages with senators, we urge him to make clear that the Senate minority’s use of the filibuster—a Jim Crow relic, in the words of former President Obama—must never stand in the way of the freedom to vote.”

Paul Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at campaign finance reform group Common Cause, told The Daily Beast that Trump may be keenly concerned about the issue if he has plans to supercharge one of his existing PACs. “The potential violations will get really serious if Trump uses an unlimited-money vehicle to promote a 2024 run,” Ryan said. “I’m a little surprised he hasn’t done this yet.” Ryan, of Common Cause, pointed to a unanimous 2019 FEC decision which found reason to believe Trump’s 2016 opponent, then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, violated these rules. “Trump is on notice regarding how the FEC interprets these laws,” he said. “Any Trump violations would arguably be knowing and willful, subjecting him to potential criminal prosecution.”

“[T]his was not a campaign finance disclosure case, and campaign finance laws remain constitutional and vitally important despite the Court’s decision today,” Common Cause President Karen Hobert Flynn said in a statement Thursday.

“Nobody’s free until everyone is free,” civil rights hero Fannie Lou Hamer said. She is right. That’s why on this Fourth of July, it’s time that we, as Americans, hold ourselves up to the values we claim in our founding documents: that all people are created equal and that “We the People” are responsible for building a more perfect union, based on justice, tranquility and liberty. It’s time we build an inclusive democracy, where everyone has a voice, can exercise their freedom to vote, and is able to participate in our democracy.