IRS

Washington Times: IRS subjects tea party groups to new round of scrutiny, publicizes tax return data

By Stephen Dinan

The IRS’ battle against holdout tea party groups is heating up again, after the tax agency promised it would begin processing their long-delayed applications, but sent a new round of prodding questions demanding still more information.

More jarringly, the IRS then publicly released one of the sets of questions it sent to the Texas Patriots Tea Party – a move the group’s lawyer says puts secret taxpayer return information, supposed to be protected, out in the public.

Tax experts say the IRS may be on safe legal ground, since the filing was made as part of a court case, and that’s one of the few narrow exceptions to strict IRS privacy laws.

Still, the move to release the information has inflamed an already tense class action legal battle between the IRS and tea party groups who feel the agency is still targeting them more than three years after it promised to cease.

Daily Signal: Lawmakers Have a Plan to Stop IRS From Censoring the Free Speech of Pastors

By Rachel del Guidice

In an effort to give faith communities and nonprofits a voice in the political sphere, two U.S. congressmen have introduced a bill that would expand the ability of these institutions to comment on political matters.

The Free Speech Fairness Act, co-sponsored by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., gives churches and nonprofits the freedom to make political comments.

“When government acts as a gatekeeper of free speech and what free speech ought to be, then it has abridged our free speech rights,” [Hice] said.

Independent Groups

Advertising Age: On the Data Front, PACs Pick Up the Slack

By Kate Kaye

It seems the 2016 election cycle’s data story has already been written. There is once again a gaping innovation chasm between the right and left as Hillary Clinton picks up where Barack Obama left off and the Donald Trump camp just doesn’t seem all that interested.

But there is another story being told. One just has to look outside the presidential campaigns, down the ballot and to the super PACs.

From the pro-Clinton powerhouse Priorities USA to the pro-Republican Congressional Leadership Fund, outside organizations on both sides have invested in data services this cycle. 

USA Today: GOP insiders plan Trump push in four states

By Fredreka Schouten

 Two groups aligned with the TD Ameritrade founder J. Joe Ricketts and his family – a super PAC and a nonprofit whose donors remain anonymous – are boosting their efforts to thwart Democrat Hillary Clinton with mailers, TV commercials and digital ads in four crucial battlegrounds…

“The donors feel the race is winnable,” said Brian Baker, the longtime political adviser to the Ricketts family, who is running the operations of the super PAC, dubbed Future45…

“One thing that perhaps works in (Trump’s) favor is that there is evidence to suggest that the effects of advertising are short-lived,” said Erika Franklin Fowler, who tracks political advertising as a co-director of The Wesleyan Media Project. “Despite the longstanding advantage that Clinton has had, it’s not a total waste to try to make up the difference this late in the game.” 

Rolling Stone: Inside Planned Parenthood’s $30 Million Ground War to Stop Trump-Pence

By Tim Dickinson

 Planned Parenthood is mounting one of the largest door-to-door field campaigns of the 2016 election, working to persuade millions of voters to defeat the extremist, anti-abortion ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Its army of hundreds of paid staff and thousands of volunteers could tip the balance in as many as half-a-dozen swing states, where the Trump campaign barely counts field offices, much less a sophisticated ground game.

Aiming to reach three million voters across six states, the $30 million campaign has twice the budget of Planned Parenthood’s largest previous field effort, in 2012. 

Wisconsin John Doe

Wisconsin Radio Network: Wisconsin campaign finance watchdog group: Supreme Court ruling a ‘setback’ for Democracy

By Andrew Beckett

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign executive director Matt Rothschild says allowing that original ruling to stand means corporate donors now have little incentive to give directly to candidates anymore, since they can now give to outside groups that can coordinate with candidates while not being subject to the same disclosure requirements. “This is a field day for billionaires and politicians who are beholden to billionaires…and it’s a nightmare for people in Wisconsin who want to know who is trying to buy off our politicians,” Rothschild argues…

Governor Scott Walker said in a statement released Monday that multiple judges and courts came to that conclusion, while ordering that the investigation was without merit and should be ended. “I applaud the individuals and organizations who fought for and successfully defended their First Amendment rights against political opponents who wanted to silence them,” Walker said. 

Political Parties

Baltimore Post-Examiner: Trump is winning: Democrats desperate for money

By Len Lazarick

Do desperate campaign fundraising appeals work?

The folks at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee apparently think so, and have been doing it for years, according to published accounts.

In just the past week, as the Sept. 30 report filing deadline approached, I got over 40 emails from the DCCC with subject lines that included “We’re BEGGING,” “We’re losing,” “Trump WINS,” “TRUMP.WINS.EVERYTHING” and “throw in the towel.”

One of my favorites came Wednesday from “Joe Biden,” with whom I’m obviously on a first name basis. “kiss all hope goodbye” was the subject line from Joe…  

Candidates and Campaigns

NBC News: How Tim Kaine Quickly Became a Reliable Messenger for Clinton

By Kailani Koenig

One of Kaine’s assets as a running mate was always going to be his connections to major donors who he grew to know during his years as chairman of the DNC. On Saturday, the Clinton campaign boasted their strongest fundraising month yet, raising $154 million for Hillary for America & the Democratic Party in September, leaving them with more than $150 million in the bank.

When he was asked on his plane recently about his role in raising massive amount of money while also pushing for campaign finance reform, he told reporters, “I’m going to keep pushing for reform, but if the other side’s going to block reform, and I have to play an away game on their field, I’m going to play an away game on their field.”

Washington Examiner: Liberals hate money in politics, until they spend money on politics

By Jason Russell

Although liberals are the ones who most loudly condemn money in politics, they seem to be the ones benefitting most from it in 2016.

In the presidential race, Hillary Clinton’s campaign has raised more than $200 million more than Donald Trump’s campaign. Outside super PACs supporting Clinton have raised $100 million more than Trump’s allied super PACs have.

Apparently, the liberal attitude can be summarized as “do as I say, not as I do.”

NBC News: Clinton Maintains Ad-Spending Advantage Over Trump

By Mark Murray

Donald Trump and his allies are spending more and more over airwaves, but that amount is not enough to overcome Hillary Clinton’s 4-to-1 ad-spending advantage, according to data from Advertising Analytics.

Through this week, the Clinton campaign has spent $113 million on ads, versus $27 million for the Trump campaign.

When outside groups are factored in, Team Clinton’s ad spending stands at $189 million, compared with Team Trump’s $50 million.

That nearly 4-to-1 Team Clinton advantage over the airwaves is down from their 5-to-1 edge last month.

The Hill: Battle for Senate crosses half-billion-dollar mark

By Reid Wilson

A large percentage of the money candidates raise will be spent on television advertising, though not all of it.

Outside groups are adding hundreds of millions in fuel to the televised fire. The DSCC has spent more money – $59.8 million – on television ads than any other group.

Michael Franz, a political scientist at Bowdoin College who tracks television ad spending, said outside groups are playing a bigger role this year than they have in previous cycles – especially because parties themselves are playing a smaller role.

“This cycle so far has seen the highest proportion [of outside spending] we’ve ever seen,” Franz said. “It’s all flowing down into the Senate races. There’s just so much extra money there that it’s just trying to find its way into the most competitive races.”

The States

Johnson County Daily Journal: Initiative seeks to get big money out of political campaigns

By Martha Bellisle

Rebecca Faust, co-author of the statement against the initiative that appears in the state Voter’s Guide, said government should not limit a citizen’s expression, even if it’s in the form of corporate spending on campaign ads.

“Silencing one voice to amplify another doesn’t feel right,” she said… 

Kelly Haughton, who helped write the opposition statement, said he is “a big supporter of civil rights and civil liberties.”

“And I view this as an attack on our civil liberties,” he said. “It will have unintended negative consequences on freedom of speech.”
Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School who specializes in campaign finance, said she hates the Citizens United ruling…

But passing a constitutional amendment to address the ruling isn’t a practical approach, Levinson said.

“It’s bringing an ax when you need a scalpel,” she said. “You threaten to cut off more than you want.”