Fredreka Schouten
Commissioners Ann Ravel, who is the agency’s chairwoman, and Ellen Weintraub are filing a formal petition, urging their own agency to write rules to clamp down on unfettered political spending and unmask the anonymous money flooding U.S. elections.
FEC petitions of this kind typically are made by outside supplicants — organizations or individuals trying to spur the nation’s top election regulators take up some matter. No sitting commissioner has ever filed such a petition in the agency’s 40-year history, Ravel said…
“American realize there are many more important issues than having politicians pass new laws to protect incumbents and stifle dissent,” David Keating, president of the Center for Competitive Politics, said in a recent statement.
Pointing to the crowded field of Republican candidates — many of whom are backed by super PACs and other outside groups, Keating said the “ability of people to speak out in politics is giving voters more choices and encouraging more candidates to run … That’s good for our democracy.”
